BOOK - Broniewicz - Environmental Management in Practice 2011

ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENTIN
PRACTICE
EditedbyElzbietaBroniewicz
Environmental Management in Practice

Edited by Elzbieta Broniewicz

Published by InTech
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Copyright 2011 InTech
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First published June, 2011
Printed in Croatia

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Environmental Management in Practice, Edited by Elzbieta Broniewicz
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-307-358-3

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Contents
Preface IX
Part 1 Environmental Management at the National
and Regional Level 1
Curbing Climate Change through a Chapter 1
National Development of Climate Change Policy 3
Sumiani Yusoff
Environmental Protection Chapter 2
Expenditure in European Union 21
Elzbieta Broniewicz
Community Ecology and Capacity: Chapter 3
Advancing Environmental Communication
Strategies among Diverse Stakeholders 37
Rosemary M. Caron,
Michael E. Rezaee and Danielle Dionne
Regional Issues in Environmental Management 67 Chapter 4
Hiroyuki Taguchi
Geo-environmental Terrain Assessments Based on Chapter 5
Remote Sensing Tools: A Review of Applications
to Hazard Mapping and Control 85
Paulo Cesar Fernandes

da Silva and John Canning Cripps
The Implementation of IPPC Directive Chapter 6
in the Mediterranean Area 119
Tiberio Daddi, Maria Rosa De Giacomo, Marco Frey,
Francesco Testa and Fabio Iraldo
Contaminated Sites and Public Policies Chapter 7
in So Paulo State, Brazil 145
Ana Luiza Silva Spnola and Arlindo Philippi Jr.
VI Contents

Sustainable Management of Muddy Coastlines 159 Chapter 8
Steven Odi-Owei and Itolima Ologhadien
Part 2 Environmental Management in Industry 175
Indicators of Sustainable Business Practices 177 Chapter 9
Hyunkee Bae and Richard S. Smardon
Assessment of Industrial Pollution Load in Lagos, Chapter 10
Nigeria by Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS)
versus Effluent Analysis 207
Adebola Oketola and Oladele Osibanjo
Pollution Prevention in the Pulp and Paper Industries 223 Chapter 11
Bahar K. Ince, Zeynep Cetecioglu

and Orhan Ince
Retrofit Approach for the Reduction of Water and Energy Chapter 12
Consumption in Pulp and Paper Production Processes 247
Jess Martnez Patio and Martn Picn Nez
An Application Model for Chapter 13
Sustainability in the Construction Industry 267
Fernando Beiriz and Assed Haddad
Assessing the SMEs Competitive Strategies Chapter 14
on the Impact of Environmental Factors:
A Quantitative SWOT Analysis Application 285
Hui-Lin Hai
Implementation of ISO 14000 in Chapter 15
Luggage Manufacturing Industry: A Case Study 297
S. B. Jaju
Part 3 Technical Aspects of Environmental Management 311
The Statistical Distributions of Industrial Chapter 16
Wastes: an Analysis of the Japanese
Establishment Linked Input-output Data 313
Hitoshi Hayami and Masao Nakamura
The Effects of Paper Recycling Chapter 17
and its Environmental Impact 329
Iveta abalov, Frantiek Kak, Anton Geffert and Danica Kakov
Overview Management Chemical Residues Chapter 18
of Laboratories in Academic Institutions in Brazil 351
Patrcia Carla Giloni-Lima, Vanderlei Aparecido de Lima
and Adriana Massa Kataoka
Contents VII

Lengthening Biolubricants Lifetime Chapter 19
by Using Porous Materials 371
Estibaliz Aranzabe, Arrate Marcaide,
Marta Hernaiz and Nerea Uranga
A Fuzzy Water Quality Index for Chapter 20
Watershed Quality Analysis and Management 387
Andr Lermontov, Lidia Yokoyama, Mihail Lermontov

and Maria Augusta Soares Machado
Environmental Management of Wastewater Chapter 21
Treatment Plants the Added Value
of the Ecotoxicological Approach 411
Elsa Mendona, Ana Picado,
Maria Ana Cunha and Justina Catarino
Technology Roadmap for Wastewater Chapter 22
Reuse in Petroleum Refineries in Brazil 425
Felipe Pombo, Alessandra Magrini
and Alexandre Szklo

Preface
Inrecentyearsthetopicofenvironmentalmanagementhasbecomeverycommon.In
sustainable development conditions, central and local governments much more often
noticetheneedofactinginwaysthatdiminishnegativeimpactonenvironment.
Environmental management may take place on many different levels starting from
global level, e.g. climate changes, through national and regional level (environmental
policy) and ending on micro level. This publication shows many examples of envi
ronmentalmanagement.
In the chapters dealing with national and regional level of environmental manage
ment, authors have presented many different aspects: communication system, envi
ronmental costs, regional development indicators. Case studies from various world
regionshavealsobeenincluded.
The second section of the book deals with environmental management in various in
dustries. It presents sustainable business practices in construction industry, pulp and
paper industry. Case studies in organizations have been a welcome addition to this
section.
Thelastsectionfocusesontechnicalaspectsofenvironmentalmanagement,mainlyon
water,wasteandwastewatermanagement.
The diversity of presented aspects within environmental management and approach
ingthesubjectfromtheperspectiveofvariouscountriescontributesgreatlytothede
velopmentofenvironmentalmanagementfieldofresearch.
Iwouldliketothankalloftheauthorsforpresentinghighqualitychapters,Mr.Vidic
for efficient project management and all InTech staff for making this publication pos
sible.
PhDElzbietaBroniewicz,
TechnicalUniversityofBialystok
Poland
Part 1
Environmental Management
at the National and Regional Level
1
Curbing Climate Change through a National
Development of Climate Change Policy
Sumiani Yusoff
University of Malaya
Malaysia
1. Introduction
In the last century, global development trends have tended to favour democratic systems
and the capitalist ideology. In turn more equitable, economically secure, technologically
advanced and intellectually progressive societies have developed around the world.
However, at the same time, the side-effects of these trends have also been the creation of a
materialistic society, high energy and resource consuming economy alongside inevitable,
irreversible environmental damage and resource plundering. Economic analysis has a
special role in contemporary national policy-making, as most of the important decisions fall
within the economic domain. A countrys development level is principally measured by its
GDP or monetary economic growth. Therefore, an economic model that is less materialistic
and less energy demanding have to be introduced to achieve sustainable development,
especially in the long-run. The development of a sustainable economic model has to
recognise the environmental impact as part of the development agenda and finding a viable
relationship between the two components. One common idea is to internalise the
environmental impact into the economic scene with benefits to society and economy at
large. To achieve the sustainable economic model, innovative policy instruments are
essential in creating the necessary shifts in economic trends or patterns. A climate change
policy plays a role in directing a country towards a sustainable economic development
model by regulating the GHGs emission with appropriate sectoral policies in place.
2. Non-renewable energy and carbon emission
With 0.4 per cent of the worlds population, Malaysias 27 million people accounted for 0.6
per cent of the global carbon emissions. As a developing country, Malaysias carbon
emissions growth is one of the fastest; it grew by 221 per cent from 1990 to 2004 (UNDP
Human Development Report 2007/2008).
1
Malaysias rapid rise in its carbon emissions is
the result of robust expansion in its industrial and automotive sectors, the over dependence
on fossil fuel as its TPES (Total Primary Energy Supply), unsustainable waste management
and forest and grassland conversion. With a CO2 emission intensity of GDP of 1.198 million
metric tonne (MT) / USD million (IMF & CDIAC, 2006); Malaysia has one of the highest

1
Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2007/2008.
< http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_Summary_English.pdf>


4
carbon emission intensity of GDP in the world, indicated a low economy output to carbon
emission.
Malaysia had announced that it is taking a voluntary reduction of up to 40 per cent carbon
emission intensity of GDP by the year 2020 compared to 2005 level at Copenhagen in 2009
(Theseira, 2010). To reach the carbon emission reduction, substantial action has to be taken.
This requires first and foremost a viable policy on climate change to achieve this goal.

Country Annual CO2
emissions
(in 000 MT)
GDP
(in billions of USD)
CO2 intensity of GDP
(million MT / USD
billion)
Malaysia 187,865 156.86 1.198
Thailand 272,521 206.99 1.317
Indonesia 333,483 364.35 0.915
Mexico 436,150 952.34 0.458
Argentina 173,536 212.71 0.816
Turkey 269,452 529.19 0.509
Sweden 50,875 393.76 0.129
UK 568,520 2,435.70 0.233
US 5,752,289 13,178.35 0.437
Japan 1,293,409 4,363.63 0.296
Table 1. Comparison of the carbon dioxide emissions intensity of GDP in 2006
2

A high carbon emission intensity of GDP would normally display the following results in
the economy: The major sectors that drive the countrys economic growth have high carbon
emissions with GDP by sector: Industrial: 42.3 per cent, Services: 47.6 per cent and
Agricultural: 10.1 per cent (CIA, 2005). In 2000, the countrys total primary energy supply
(TPES) was 49.47 million tons of oil equivalents (MTOE). The greatest percentage of the
Malaysian fuel mix is petroleum products. In 2006, the TPES increase to 68.33 MTOE and it
is projected to grow at a 3.5 per cent per year to 147 MTOE in 2030 because of the increase in
demand for coal, oil and gas; with coal demand accounting for the highest growth rate at 9.7
per cent per year through 2030 (IEA, 2008).
Higher energy use per GDP indicates a lower economy output per unit of energy use.
Malaysia has one of the highest energy uses (oil equivalent) per unit GDP compared with
the developed countries in the comparison lists. Although Malaysia shows a lower value
compared with regional developing countries; the fossil fuel consumption in the total
energy shares (95.5 per cent) is higher than Thailand (81.2 per cent) and Indonesia (68.8 per
cent). This finding can deduce that Malaysia has the highest carbon emission intensity of
GDP among the countries of comparison.

2
Sources: GDP data - IMF (International Monetary Fund), 2006 CO2 emission - CDIAC (Carbon Dioxide
Information Analysis Center), 2006

Curbing Climate Change through a National Development of Climate Change Policy

5
48%
35%
12%
4% 1%
Gas
Oil
Coal
Comb.
Renew.&
Waste
Hydro

Fig. 1. Malaysias shares of TPES in 2007
3

Country MT of
CO2
emission/
capita
Energy use
(kg of oil
equivalent
per capita)
Energy use
(kt of oil
equivalent)
Energy use /
GDP (kt of oil
equivalent /
USD billion)
Fossil fuel
energy
consumption
(% of total)
Malaysia 7.2 2733 72,589 462.76 95.5
Thailand 4.3 1553 103,991 502.40 81.2
Indonesia 1.5 849 190,647 523.25 68.8
Mexico 4.1 1750 184,262 193.48 89.3
Argentina 4.4 1850 73,065 343.50 89.5
Turkey 3.6 1370 100,005 188.98 90.5
Sweden 5.6 5512 50,422 128.05 32.9
UK 9.4 3464 211,308 86.76 89.6
US 19 7766 2,339,942 177.56 85.6
Japan 10.1 4019 513,519 117.68 83.2
*Energy use refers to the TPES
*Fossil fuel refers to coal, oil and natural gas
Table 2. Comparison of energy use and fossil fuel consumption, 2007
4

3. Unsustainable electricity production
Energy in Malaysia is consumed mainly in the transportation and industrial sectors, 38.2 per
cent and 37.8 per cent respectively in 2005, followed by commercial and residential sectors
at 12.5 per cent and the non-energy, which consumes 9.7 per cent of the total energy.
Electrical energy production increased from 1,622 gigawatt per hour (GWh) in 1963 to 4,971

3
Source: IEA (International Energy Agency), 2008.
<http://www.iea.org/stats/pdf_graphs/MYTPESPI.pdf>
4
Source: CDIAC, 2006; IEA, 2007; IMF, 2006.


6
GWh in 1974 and 57,435 GWh in 1998. In 1996, 16 per cent of electrical production was
hydro generated, and over 83 per cent was of thermal origin (National Energy Balance,
PTM, 2006). In 2007, the country hit a staggering 101325 GWh of total electricity production
with only about 6.4 per cent was hydro generated, (coal 29.5 per cent, natural gas 62 per cent
and oil 2.1 per cent) according to the statistic shown by IEA in 2010.

Country Electricity
consumption*
(TWh)

Electricity
Consumption
/Population
(kWh/capita)
Electricity (production by source) %
Fossil
fuel*
hydro nuclear others
Malaysia 97.39 3668 93.6 6.4 - -
Thailand 137.68 2157 91.4 5.7 - 2.9
Indonesia 127.17 564 87.1 7.9 - 5.0
Mexico 214.34 2028 81.4 10.6 4.0 4.0
Argentina 104.99 2658 65.8 26.7 6.3 1.2
Turkey 163.35 2210 80.9 18.7 - 0.4
Sweden 139.40 15238 2.4 44.5 45.0 8.1
UK 373.36 6142 77.6 2.3 15.9 4.2
US 4113.07 13616 71.6 6.3 19.2 2.9
Japan 1082.72 8475 66.8 7.4 23.3 2.5
*Gross production + imports - exports - transmission/distribution losses
*Fossil fuel refers to oil, gas and coal
Table 3. Electricity production by source in 2007
5

The countrys electricity consumption per capita is higher than the regional and other
developing countries in the comparison list. Furthermore, the share of fossil fuel of the
electricity production is the highest among all the countries in comparison. From the brief
findings, it can be deduced that the factor contribute to the high carbon emission in any
major sectors is the non-renewable energy supply. To reduce the carbon emission in any
sector, a fundamental shift in the countrys TPES to a higher share of renewable energy is an
imperative determinant.
4. Climate change related policies in Malaysia
In general, Malaysia adopts a precautionary principle policy with actions to mitigate or
adapt to climate change. A National Climate Committee was formed in 1995 with various
government agencies, stakeholders from the business and civil society groups. The
strategies adopted by the committee include to reduce the heavy reliance on fossil fuel in
energy sector, promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, public awareness
programme, sustainable forest management, ensure food sufficiency and undertaking
coastal vulnerability index (CVI) study that serve as a basis for the development of adaptive

5
Source: IEA, 2010.


7
measures to mitigate the impact of sea level rise. (Conservation and Environment
Management Division, CEMD, 2007)
Existing relevant policies in the country that will, directly or indirectly affect the
development of an integrated and coherent climate change policy include:
1. National Policy on the Environment, 2002
2. National Forestry Policy, 1978
3. National Policy on Biological Diversity, 1998
4. National Energy Policy, 1979
5. National Automotive Policy, 2009
6. Third National Agricultural Policy, 1998-2010
7. National Physical Plan, 2006
5. National renewable energy policy 2011
Based on the data below (see Table 4), about 40-50 per cent of the carbon emissions
originated from the energy and industrial sector. The emission from the industrial activities
is mainly attributed to the energy sector as well. Therefore, the focus has to be on the energy
sector in order to achieve any significant reduction goal.

Rank Sub-sector GHGs Emission, CO2e
(mil. MT)
Percentage
1 Emission from energy industries CO2 58,486 28.2
2 Transportation CO2 35,587 17.2
3 Manufacturing and construction CO2 26,104 12.6
4 Landfills CH4 24,541 11.8
5 Forest and grassland conversion CO2 24,111 11.6
6 Fugitive emissions from fuel CH4 21,987 10.60
7 Mineral products CO2 9,776 4.7
8 Emission from soil CO2 4,638 2.2
9 Commercial CO2 2,122 1.0
207,352 99.9
Table 4. Key sources of GHGs emissions in Malaysia
6

The key policies guiding energy-related activities in Malaysia consisted of:
National Petroleum Policy 1975
National Energy Policy 1979
National Depletion Policy 1980
Four Fuel Diversification Policy 1981
Fifth Fuel Diversification Policy (Eighth Malaysia Plan 2001-2005)
In conjunction with these policies, a number of government supported projects to assist the
National Energy Conservation plans, have been identified. Under the guidance and
supervision of the Malaysia Energy Centre (PTM), some of the projects introduced are CDM
(Clean Development Mechanisms), IRP (Integrated Resource Planning), MEDIS (Malaysia

6
Source: Abdul Rahim Nik, FRIM (Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia), 2009.


8
Energy Database and Information System), MIEEIP (Malaysian Industrial Energy Efficiency
Improvement Project), BioGen (biomass power generation and co-generation in palm oil
industry), MBIPV (Malaysian Building Integrated Photovoltaic Technology Application
Project) and Demand Side Management.
The SREP (Small Renewable Energy Programme) allows Renewable Energy (RE) projects
with up to 10 megawatt (MW) of capacity only. The programme was introduced during 8
th

Malaysia Plan (2001-2005) under the fifth fuel diversification policy which targeted a 5 per
cent renewable energy share of total electricity generation; however failed to achieve its
target. In 9
th
Malaysia Plan or 9
th
MP, (2006-2010), targeted RE capacity to be connected to
power utility grid is 300MW in Peninsula Malaysia and 50MW in Sabah with a 1.8 per cent
of total power generation mix (65 per cent natural gas, 36 per cent coal, 6 per cent hydro &
0.2 per cent oil). However, RE capacity connected to power utility grid as of 31
st
December
2009 was 53MW which is barely 15 per cent of 9
th
MP target. The off grid RE (private palm
oil millers and solar hybrids) is more than 430MW (Badriyah, 2010).
The reasons for slow RE development are identified as market failure, absence of legal
framework, lack of institutional measures and constraint in financial and technological
aspects. A new ministry, Ministry of Energy, Water and Green Technology (KeTTHA) was
formed in 2009 following the introduction of Green Technology Policy 2009. The ministry
had formulated goals on sustainable use of energy and water. The ministry also provides
incentive for the use of green technology. A new policy on renewable energy (National
Renewable Energy Policy) will be introduced next year (Loo, 2010). With the new Act, a new
feed-in tariff system will be introduced to stimulate the renewable energy sector. The policy
statement is Enhancing the utilization of indigenous renewable energy resources to
contribute towards national electricity supply security and sustainable socio-economic
development.
6. Potential carbon emission reductions in energy sector
The potential of carbon emissions reduction in energy sectors is discussed in this section.
Comparison is made between the existing use of renewable energy and its potential in
Malaysia. It is found that Malaysia has a vast potential in renewable energy as compared
with the existing utilisation.

Renewable energy Installed Capacity (MW) Potential Capacity (MW)
Solar 6.2 6500
Wind 0.2 (low potential)
Municipal Solid Waste - 400
Hydropower 2225
(year 2000)
22 000
Mini-Hydro 23.8 500
Biomass/Biogas

479 1300
(Palm Oil Waste)
Table 5. Comparison of currently installed and potential capacity of renewable energy
7

7
Source: Loh, T., Yusoff, S., 2009.


9
Year Cumulative RE Capacity RE Power Mix
(vs Peak Demand)
Cumulative CO2
avoided
2010 73 MW 0.5% 0.3 mt
2015 985 MW 6% 11.1 mt
2020 2080 MW 11% 42.2 mt
2030 4000 MW 17% 145.1 mt
*RE capacity achievements are dependent on the size of RE fund
*Assumptions: Feed-in Tariff (FiT) in place & 15.6 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of RE
power capacity from 2011 to 2030
Table 6. National Renewable Energy Target
8

The current power generation capacity connected to the Malaysia National Grid is 19,023
MW in 2007 (Energy Commission, 2007). Based on the data in Table 4, the potential power
generation by renewable energy is 30,700 MW, which is more than the current power
generation. Therefore, if the country can reach 40% of the potential renewable energy
capacity, 60% of the existing power generation will be from renewable energy. However,
less than 10% of the potential renewable energy is utilized currently.
With the implementation of feed-in tariff, the RE power mix is projected to reach 11% in
year 2020 (Badriyah, 2010) and the achievement of the 40% reduction of carbon intensity of
GDP will be subjected to the country GDP growth. Therefore, the increase of the renewable
energy share in the total power generation is a predominant agenda in the development of a
climate change policy.
7. Draft national climate change policy
The policy study on climate change was conducted by CEMD under the Ministry of Natural
Resource Environment (MNRE) in collaboration with LESTARI (Institute for Environment
and Development). The study adopted a three-pronged approach to support the national
positions at the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol meetings, formulation of a national policy and
action plan, and delineation of state level responses to climate change adaptation and
mitigation (Figure 2). The first approach is the critical review of several international and
local research papers and public documents that was related to post-2012 responses,
decision documents of the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol, Malaysias Third Outline
Perspective Plan (OPP3), Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK9), relevant national policies, and
Malaysias Initial National Communication (INC). The second approach involved the
comparative studies of national policies or strategies on climate change from selected
countries and the third approach focused on stakeholder consultation through national and
regional workshops, interviews and surveys which were carried out in a four overlapping
phases. The need for a national policy on climate change was articulated in the first and
second phase; while in the third and fourth phase, the policy framework including its key
actions was supported as a promising tool to mainstream climate change in national
development (Tan, et al, 2009).

8
Source: Badriyah, KeTTHA, August 2010.


10

Fig. 2. Climate change policy study approach and expected outputs
9

Fig. 3. Overall framework of a national climate change policy
10

9
Source: Tan, C. T.; Pereira, J. J. & Koh, F. P. (2009). Stakeholder Consultation in the Development of
Climate Change Policy: Malaysias Approach. Environmental Policy: A multinational conference on
policy analysis and teaching methods, KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Seoul, Korea.


11
Objectives
Mainstreaming of measures to address climate change challenges through
strengthened economic competitiveness, wise management of resources,
environmental conservation and enhanced quality of life for sustainable development.
Integration of responses into national policies, plans and programmes to strengthen
the resilience of development from arising impacts of climate change.
Strengthening of institutional and implementation capacity to better harness
opportunities in reducing negative impacts of climate change.
Principles/Strategic Thrusts
Principle 1. Development on a Sustainable Path: Integrate climate change responses in
national development plans to fulfil the countrys aspiration for sustainable development.
Strategic Thrust 1. Facilitate the harmonisation of existing policies to address climate
change adaptation and mitigation in a balanced manner.
Strategic Thrust 2. Institute measures to make development climate-resilient through
low carbon economy to enhance global competitiveness and attain environmentally
sustainable socio-economic growth.
Strategic Thrust 3. Support climate-resilient industrial development and investment in
pursuit of sustainable socio-economic growth.
Principle 2. Sustainability of Environment and Natural Resources: Initiate actions on
climate change issues that contribute to environmental conservation and sustainable use of
natural resources while enhancing energy efficiency and sufficiency as well as water and
food security.
Strategic Thrust 1. Adopt balanced adaptation and mitigation measures to climate-
proof development, strengthen environmental conservation and promote
sustainability of natural resources
Principle 3. Integrated Planning and Implementation: Integrate planning and
implementation to climate-proof development.
Strategic Thrust 1. Institute measures to integrate cross-cutting issues in policies,
plans, programmes and projects in order to increase resilience to and minimise
negative impacts of climate change.
Strategic Thrust 2. Support knowledge-based decision making through intensive
climate related research and development and capacity building of human resources.
Principle 4. Effective Participation: Improve participation of stakeholders and major
groups for effective implementation of climate change responses.
Strategic Thrust 1. Improve collaboration through efficient communication and
coordination among all stakeholders for effective implementation of climate change
responses.
Strategic Thrust 2. Increase awareness and public participation to promote
behavioural responses to climate change.
Principle 5. Common but Differentiated Responsibility: International involvement on
climate change will be based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.
Strategic Thrust 1. Strengthen involvement in international activities on climate
change based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.
Table 7. The Draft National Policy on Climate Change Objectives, Principles and Strategic
Thrusts
11

10
Op. cit. Tan, et al. (2009).
11
Source: Pereira, 2008


12
8. Challenges in the development of climate change policy in Malaysia
8.1 Institutional reformation and policy restructuring
The formation of an institutional framework on climate change issue is the foundation to
achieve any result in carbon emission. A clear cut government policy direction on
sustainable development has to be established in the quest of achieving goal on carbon
emission reduction. The agenda toward low carbon economy requires strong and persistent
institutional reformation and political will and direction in a long term basis. A
governments primary concerns are the countrys economic growth and social welfare.
Urgency and priority are the major considerations for the development of any public policy
especially for a developing country. Tackling climate change issue or striving towards the
sustainable development model is a long term planning process. A country abundant in
natural resources may lack urgency in policy planning and implementation in climate
change. Coordination and cooperation between various government agencies toward a
achieving a common goal on carbon emission reduction is lacking at the moment. In the
Malaysian context, political influence is always the prime mover in creating any trends as
the decision making power is lacking among the civil servants. Another constraint in policy
making process is the conflict in authority and power distribution between federal and state
government.
12

8.2 Lack of expertise in climate change issue
The R&D in climate change is relatively new in the country with concern on the matter is
primarily driven by the signing and ratifying of Kyoto Protocol in carbon emission
reduction and now more recently, the 40 per cent reduction of carbon emission intensity of
GDP as pledged in COP 15. Local expertise on climate change issue especially the trend in
the country is important and a proper data management plan needs to be implemented. The
country need climate change experts that possess knowledge in climate change globally as
well as have a strong understanding on the local socio economic development. Education
from primary level is important to instil the understanding of climate change issue to the
people since young. With proper education system, the topic can become more pertinent
among the people and hopefully will produce more climate change experts.
8.3 Economic status (lack of financial capacity)
State of the art technology and solution to any environmental issue are readily available as
solutions. The constraint is in its economic viability (i.e. pricing). The economic status does
not allow solution for long term environmental issue which typically consume huge amount
of money. For example, in waste management sector, the polluter pay principle (PPP) can
directly encourage recycling. However it must be equipped with a proper pricing
mechanism such as a variable unit based pricing scheme which will serve as a basis of the
carrot and stick approach (Munasinghe, 2008). Another example is greywater or sullage that
contributes to of 6 per cent of the total river point source pollution (DOE, 2001). The solution
to sullage discharge is to retrofit the existing piping back to the sewer line for further
treatment. However, the constraint is always related to the cost and priority. The DID
(Department of Irrigation and Drainage) had introduced some measures in tackling river

12
Based on the stakeholders discussion session at SLiM 2010 Roundtable: Creating an Institutional
Framework for Implementing Sustainable Development (8
th
July)


13
pollution such as gross pollutant trap (GPT) and FOG (fat, oil and grease) trap, but these
have not been very effective. The most pragmatic solution is sullage pipe retrofitting which
is costly and require strong political will to implement it.
13
The same situation happens to
renewable energy such as solar, biomass, biogas and the like. The example shows the
inadequacy of financial capability in solving a pertinent local environmental issue.
8.4 Public understanding on climate change issue
Public understanding on environmental issue is imperative in the development of the
climate change policy as it directly affect the life of an individual. In Malaysia, the
understanding of climate change by the public at large is rather insufficient. For example,
most of the people are not aware that driving a car or petrol consumption can lead to
climate change by carbon emission. Awareness campaigns by the government or NGOs
does not take into account the bigger picture provide an understanding of the cause of
environmental issues such as climate change. The publicity drive by the government
produces only a superficial understanding on the part of the general public so it does not
accurately reflect or actually lead to good environmental practices as such. That is to say, the
rhetoric is not matched by the reality of an environmentally-friendly situation.
One of the tools to analyse the entire environmental impacts of an issue is LCA (Life Cycle
Assessment) which the public in general do not understand. One example is the issue of the
banning on the use of plastic bags by certain states in the country. For most, plastic is
something negative to the environment because of its non-biodegradable nature. Plastic
which is beneficial as a carrier or for packaging may pose a problem when it comes to
inconsiderate disposal, especially to any water bodies. However, banning the use of
plastic bags will never solve the inconsiderate disposal problem and is myopic,
impracticable and counter-productive. The solution has to be proper education and
management since plastic bags are still a necessity as its use has yet to be outlasted by
environmental concerns. The use of plastic packaging has lesser negative environmental
impact if compared with other materials such as paper and metal because of the lower
carbon emission in a life cycle perspective. In fact, plastic has reduced the consumption of
fossil fuel on transportation and manufacturing.
14

8.5 Equity in socio-economic development
An important social criterion must be that climate change should not be a hindrance to the
development of a more equitable society where no one is made worse off. Thus,
environmental policies must leave room for the proper allocation and distribution of
resources in the pursuit of socio-economic welfare of the least better off in society.
Furthermore, without an equitable society, environmental policies are very difficult to be
implemented. For example, solar panel is burdensome for most middle and lower income
household without incentives. The total elimination of logging activities will cause the loss
of employment among low income workers. However there are also counter-examples: An
effective public transport system can bring benefit to the poor as well as reduce carbon
emission.
The development of a climate change policy has to include a concern of the poor as the
policy may affect their livelihood. In a global perspective, the use of parameters like carbon

13
(Keizrul, 2010, Public Lecture at Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, on World Water Day,
22
nd
March).
14
Source: MPMA (Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association), 2010.


14
emission per GDP and per capita is questionable in relation to its applicability to all
countries with differing levels of economic growth. Developed countries usually have a
lower carbon emission per GDP but a higher carbon emission per capita; because of their
high economy power. While developing countries usually have comparably higher carbon
emission per GDP but lower carbon emission per capita. The measurement of emission with
GDP (economy) correlation should be a short term parameter to provide incentive and
opportunity for developing countries to boost their economy without much emission
liability. However, for developed countries, the focus should be the emission per capita with
the strong economy status. Kverndokk (1995)
15
argued that conventional justice and moral
principles should favour the equitable allocation of future GHG emission rights on the basis
of population, consistent with the UN human rights declaration underlining the equality of
all human beings.
9. Discussion
The paper had introduced the existing carbon emission status in the country, two policies
(National Renewable Energy and National Climate Change Policy) and identified the
challenges of the development and implementation of these policies. To overcome the
constraints arise in a viable approach, the climate change impacts have to be embedded into
any policy development. Internalization of climate impacts in economic with mixed
instruments, establishment of GHGs information centre, adaptation strategy and
institutional redesigning and education at all levels are the keys to achieve the carbon
reduction target.
9.1 Internalize climate change impact into the economy domain
As an externality in the current economy trend, environmental issue always meets the
problem of market failure. To achieve any goal and substantial result in environmental
issue, it has to be internalized in the economy domain by putting a price tag on it. When
there is a price to pay for any environmental damage caused, people will be able to feel it.
For example, climate change issue is something either people cant feel it or due to mere
selfishness. Another example is landfill, which most people has never seen before and do
not understand its negative impacts. The economic functions of the environment have to be
valued for an internalization to happen. Three outlines for the evaluation of the functions
are amenity services (natural beauty, recreational, etc), natural resources (minerals and non-
minerals, forest, etc) and assimilation of waste products (land, water and air). With this
perception of recognizing the economic value of environment, the traditional economic
system and the environment will be dynamically interrelated (Munasinghe, 2008).
The entire activity or process of an environmental issue has to be integrated with price
mechanism to create a market based solution. Market based instrument (MBI) is an
economic approach to influence people to include environmental matters in any decision
making. Some of the examples are tradable permits, polluter pay principle, green levy, eco-
labeling, landfill tax, etc.
The polluter pay principle argues that those who create negative impact to the environment
should pay the corresponding costs. The economic rationale is to provide alternatives and

15
Source: Kverndokk, S., 1995. Tradeable CO2 Emission Permits: Initial Distribution as a Justice
Problem, Environmental Value, 4(2), 129-48. <http://www.frisch.uio.no/sammendrag/14_eng.html>


15
incentive for polluters to reduce their impact or emission to optimal level. This carrot and
stick approach that incorporated in the principle can be further extended to principle of
recompensing victim by using the revenues collected by polluters (Munasinghe, 2008). The
approach is important to ensure fairness in the context of social equity. In this method,
economic valuation is an important prerequisite. CBA (cost benefit analysis) can be applied
to work out the valuation and quantify the damage in a monetary way.
Multi-criteria analysis will be useful for environmental solution that cant be evaluated with
single criterion approach like CBA. MBI provides individual or company greater flexibility
in their approaches to pollution management. Contrary to the command and control
approach which is more prescriptive; MBI provides incentive to innovate and individual at
large to make the correct decision. By having a clear and inclusive monetary structure in
punishing or rewarding in the context of an environmental issue, the result will be more
obvious.
9.2 Mixed instrument: A practical approach in the decoupling of economy growth and
environmental impact (carbon emission)
While MBI can be more cost-effective than regulatory instruments it has its own drawbacks.
The major weaknesses of MBI are: (Munasinghe, 2008)
Their effects on environmental quality are not as predictable as those under a
traditional regulatory approach as polluters may choose their own solutions.
In the case of pollution charges, some polluters opt to pollute and to pay a charge if the
charge is not set at the appropriate level.
Require sophisticated institutions to implement and enforce them properly, particularly
in the case of charges and tradable permits.

Fig. 4. Decoupling of resource use with economy growth and environmental impact
Internalization of environmental impact in an economic perspective alone cant bring out a
comprehensive solution in carbon emission reduction. The most apparent drawback is the
rich will pollute more while the poor will pollute less. It doesnt solve the fundamental issue


16
of sustainable consumption and production as the rich countries have the financial capacity
to choose whether to increase or decrease their carbon emission. Therefore, both economic
and non-economic approaches have to be considered in the internalization process with a
flexible mode. Command and control policy such as placing standard, agreement, protocol,
etc; is predominantly significance in ensuring a healthy development of MBI. Besides,
command and control, as a non-economic approach, may be beneficial as a starting point,
when regulators are faced with a significant problem yet have too little information to
support a MBI.
In practice, the mixture of both command and control and MBI is more effective. The policy
and economy instruments have to be implemented hand in hand to achieve any tangible
target in carbon emission reduction. For the example, the readjustment of electricity tariff by
TNB (Tenaga National Berhad), the main electricity distributor in Malaysia. With the
differential tariff, users that consume less electricity are exempted from the levy which will
be exerted on user that exceeds a certain levels of electricity consumption. (Rao, P.K., 2000)
9.3 Establishment of GHGs information management system
GHGs emission shouldnt be merely calculated by the looking at the carbon source. The
GHGs sequestration or carbon sink especially by natural sink such as forest has to be taken
into account in figuring out the net carbon emission. The net emission data will represent a
better overview and bigger picture of the issue in a country context.

Fig. 5. Net carbon emission
Malaysia with collaboration of the regional countries has to set up a world recognized
independent body in the collection and management of data pertaining to carbon emission
in the region. Data inconsistency can be an important factor that leads to the failure of the
development of an environmental policy. For example, IEA reported that the CO
2
emissions
in Malaysia in 2005 was 5.45 MT/capita, UNEP revealed a value of 6.2 MT/capita in 2002,
while CDIAC documented a 7.2 MT/capita in 2006; and on the other hand, WRI (World
Resource Institute) published a value of 5.4 MT / capita in 2000. The questions are not only
the consistency of the volume emissions but also the base year of those data. (Wee et al,
2008).
One reliable GHGs emissions inventory of the country was developed by Malaysia National
Steering Committee on Climate Change; which was established following the signing of
Kyoto Protocol. The national GHGs emissions inventory was introduced during the
preparation of the Initial National Communication (INC) for UNFCCC. In 2000, Malaysia
submitted its INC comprising the national GHGs inventory and the assessment of possible
Net carbon emission
Carbon sources (emission) Carbon sinks (sequestration)
_
+


17
impacts of climate change. It detailed the policies and plans in place that represent the
national sustainable development agenda of the country. The preparation of Second
National Communication (NC2) is a continual step towards further implementation of the
UNFCCC at national level which aims to generate a comprehensive report on climate
change related issues in Malaysia. (CEMD, 2007)

Fig. 6. NC2 Institutional Arrangement (Source: DOE (Department of Environment), 2010
9.4 Adaptation strategy to climate change
Adaptation strategies to climate change are inevitable because of the limited available
knowledge. As a global issue, the effects of climate change will happen everywhere around
the world. Therefore, adaptation measures have to be taken as well besides the mitigation
measures; to ensure the welfare of the society is under control. Adaptation is a shared
responsibility between government, community and business entities; that have a stake and
role in responding to the climate change impact. Government has to put efforts in studies
and research in climate change vulnerability areas and develop the relevant policies. For
example, the recent findings revealed in the national coastal vulnerability index (CVI) study
conducted by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) in 2006 shows that sea levels
off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia will rise by 10cm to 13cm in the next 100 years and
288.4km or 6% of the peninsulas 4,809km-long coast is being eroded by sea water.
As vulnerability to climate change is a new risk to a country, business and community need
to assume the responsibility to manage the risk by factor climate change into everyday
decision making. It takes time to adapt and as uncertainty exists in climate change effect, the
reasons for taking the relevant action are flexibility and creativity. It is not cost effective for
adaptation response measures to prevent all adverse impacts of current and future climate
change. Adaptation actions will need to achieve a suitable balance between the risks of


18
acting too early or too late, and to balance the potential benefits of actions with the likely
magnitude of impacts. In this context, the government plays a vital role in leading the action
by providing information and setting the right conditions for business and community to
adapt.
9.5 Institutional framework redesigning
Institution refers to a specific organization or a policy program. Organizations such as a
specific government agency, departments, association are a manifestation of institution. For
an institution to be changed, organizations are needed. But institutional change is harder to
achieve than organizational change. For instance it is easier to restructure the Department of
Environment than to transform Malaysias federal system which is constitutionally defined.
Instructive guiding principles are found in Professor Dovers public lecture delivered in
2009 entitled Implementing Sustainable Development; six generic principles may be
adopted and adapted by governments to suit relevant contexts:
1. Factoring in the long term
2. Integrating environment, society and economy in policy
3. Precautionary Principle
4. Global dimensions
5. Innovative policy approaches
6. Community participation
Institutionalizing sustainability by embedding these principles in their institutions is no
easy feat for any government. A suggestion in institution reformation is the forming of
Green ministries clusters typically share matters related to climate change; for example
the alliance between Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, Ministry of Energy,
Green Technology and Water, Ministry of Housing and Local Government and Ministry of
Science, Technology and Innovation.
9.6 Decision making at all levels
Any decision making related to climate change is fundamentally affected by money and
awareness. To look at the micro level in the implementation of the climate change policy,
decision making process of all levels are the determining factor. For example, for an
individual level, changing to energy saving light bulb can be costly for low income people;
however the awareness can drive the individual to take the action. Same for the government
level; for instance to embark in renewable energy technology will take tremendous efforts in
various agencies; however, with proper planning and collaboration, the positive outcomes
of the effort can outweigh the short term unfavorable financial constraint in an entire system
outlook. Decision making is always affected by an individuals knowledge, ethic, integrity
and mindset. Education is the key toward correct decision making by all levels regarding
matters related to climate change. Government had made the move to incorporate
environmental issues in science and geography lessons at primary and secondary levels. The
question remains is the comprehensiveness and sufficiency of the subject and the
qualification and understanding of teachers on the subject.
10. Conclusion
Mainstreaming sustainability has always proven difficult in any country either developed or
developing. Nevertheless, the global challenge of climate change will serves as an impetus


19
for the government to set new energy policy that based on clean and renewable energy.
With a holistic policy and economy model in place, the achievement of sustainable
development is not impossible. However implementation of the policy requires high quality
governance and vast pools of expertise with high ethical and integrity. It is time to change
the Business As Usual attitude and NATO (No Action Talk Only) syndrome.
The country politicians, all business sectors and the community at large have to be involve
and dwell on the environmental and especially climate change issue as it entails on
numerous diverse topics and disciplines. Pending to the formulation of the climate change
policy, the planning of the implementation part (enforcement, monitoring, measurement,
improvement, etc) has to go concurrently. The introduction of a climate change policy is
imperative for any country and in the right timing for the country to act as a strategic
trajectory toward sustainable development.
11. References
Mohan Munasinghe, 2008. The sustainomics transdisciplinary meta-framework for marking
development more sustainable: Applications to energy issues. In: Pushpam Kumar
(eds): Economics of Environment & Development (pp. 11-87). Taylor & Francis
Group: CRC Press.
Rao, P.K. 2000. Sustainable development: Economics and policy. Blackwell Publisher.
IEA Statistics, CO
2
emissions from fuel combustion, 2009 edition, International Energy
Agency.
Mohan Munasinghe, 2008. Addressing the sustainable development and climate change
challenges together: Applying the sustainomics framework. Procedia social and
behavioral science 41 (2010); 6634-6640.
Tan Ching Tiong, Joy Jacqueline Pereira and Koh Fui Pin, 2009. Stakeholder Consultation in
the Development of Climate Change Policy: Malaysias Approach. Environmental
Policy: a Multinational Conference on Policy Analysis and Teaching Methods, KDI
School of Public Policy and Management - Seoul, South Korea.
Badriyah Abdul Malek, 2010. Ministry of Energy, Green Technology & Water Malaysia.
National Renewable Energy Policy & Action Plan. Energy Forum: Securing a
Sustainable Energy for Malaysia.
PTM, 2007. Energy sector embracing climate change. National Conference on Climate
Change Preparedness towards Policy Changes
Al-Amin, Chamhuri Siwar, Abdul Hamid, Nurul Huda, 2005, Pollution implications of
electricity generation in Malaysian economy: An input-output approach.
APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). Energy Demand and Supply Outlook 2006:
Malaysia.
Gary W. Theseira, 2010. How can the 40% carbon (intensity) reductions can be achieved?
Waste Management 2010 Conference, ENSEARCH.
Loh, T., Yusoff, S., 2009, The clean development mechanism (CDM) as a driver for climate
change adaptation in Malaysia.
A. A. Hezri and Mohd. Nordin Hasan, 2006. Towards sustainable development? The
evolution of environmental policy in Malaysia. Natural Resources Forum.
A.A. Hezri, 2010. Sustainable Shift: Institutional Challenges for the Environment in
Malaysia. EPSM SLiM Roundtable 2010, Creating an Institutional Framework for
Implementing Sustainable Development.


20
National Hydraulic Research Institute Malaysia (NAHRIM). 2006. Study of the impact of
climate change on the hydrologic regime and water resources of Peninsular
Malaysia Final Report. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
Energy Commission of Malaysia, 2007. Statistics of interim on the performance of the
electricity supply in Malaysia for the first half year of 2007.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Institute for Environment and Development (UKM-
LESTARI), 2008a. Policy Framework on Climate Change: Stakeholder viewpoints.
UKM-LESTARI.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Institute for Environment and Development (UKM-
LESTARI), 2008b. National Policy on Climate Change (Draft 1: 10 September 2008):
Stakeholder viewpoints. UKM-LESTARI.
IPCC. 2005. IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Climate Change
2007. Geneva: Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Geneva: Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change.
Wee Kean Fong, Hiroshi Matsumoto, Chin Siong Ho, Yu Fat Lun, 2008. Energy consumption
and carbon dioxide in the urban planning process in Malaysia.
Joy Jacqueline Pereira, Ibrahim Komoo, Tan Ching Tiong, 2010. Climate change and disaster
risk reduction, SEADPRI-UKM.
UN. 2007. Sustainable Development Issues. United Nations Division for Sustainable
Development. (http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/docs_sdissues.htm/, Retrieved:
October 2007)
Anwar Al-Mofleh, Soib Taib, M. Abdul Mujeebu, Wael Salah, 2007. Analysis of sectoral
energy conservation in Malaysia. Energy Volume 34, Issue 6, June 2009.
2
Environmental Protection
Expenditure in European Union
Elzbieta Broniewicz
Faculty of Management, Technical University of Bialystok
Poland
1. Introduction
Environmental protection expenditure should show the efforts being made to prevent,
reduce and eliminate pollution resulting from the production or consumption of goods and
services. The chapter presents the basic definitions and survey results of environmental
protection expenditure in 25 European Union countries.
Environmental protection expenditure (EPE) is defined as the amount of money spent on all
purposeful activities directly aimed at the prevention, reduction and elimination of
pollution or nuisances resulting from the production processes (or consumption of goods
and services). Data on environmental expenditure are collected from the European countries
through the Joint OECD/Eurostat Questionnaire on Environmental Protection Expenditure
and Revenues (EPER). The data covers five economic variables:
investments for environmental protection:
pollution treatment investments,
pollution prevention investments,
current expenditure for environmental protection,
subsidies/transfers given for environmental protection activities.
The Questionnaire EPER contains also the data concerning households expenditure for
environmental protection.
The scope of Environmental Protection is defined according to the Classification of
Environmental Protection Activities (CEPA, 2000), which distinguishes nine different
environmental domains: protection of ambient air and climate, wastewater management,
waste management, protection and remediation of soil, groundwater and surface water,
noise and vibration abatement, protection of biodiversity and landscapes, protection against
radiation, research and development and other environmental protection activities.
The purpose of the chapter is to provide the information, how vary the environmental
protection expenditure in European Union over the years and what are the trends in specific
domains of environmental protection. The comparison between the amount of costs in
different countries of European Union is very interesting.
Environmental protection is an action or activity (which involves the use of equipment,
labour, manufacturing techniques and practices, information networks or products) where
the main purpose is to collect, treat, reduce, prevent, or eliminate pollutants and pollution or
any other degradation of the environment resulting from the operating activity of the
organization.


22
Environmental protection expenditure is the sum of capital and current expenditure for the
undertaking of environmental protection activities.
Investment expenditure refers to financial or material costs, which aim at creating new
permanent resources or improving (reconstruction, extension, restoration, adaptation or
modernization) the existing objects of permanent property. It also means costs of so called
first investment equipment. Presented division of investment costs is developed according
to the rules of national accounting system, compliant with the SNA 1993
recommendations. Investment expenditure can be divided into permanent resources and
other costs.
Environmental protection current expenditure includes costs of activity operation and
maintenance (technology, process, equipment). Current expenditure is to prevent, reduce,
dispose or eliminate pollution and other environmental losses caused by current activities of
the entity. They include internal costs (including costs of operation and maintenance of
environmental protection installations as well as environmental charges), costs of services
provided by external entities, charges for sewage treatment and waste collection; costs of
control systems, monitoring, laboratory research, management.
Investment and current environmental expenditure have been divided, according to the
property sectors, into:
public sector government institutions (central public administration, regional and local
governments as well as public organizations and institutions mainly classified in NACE,
Rev. 1 as 75),
- business sector commercial enterprises, financial and insurance institutions as well as
non-commercial institutions (all activities except NACE 75),
- producers specialized in environmental protection (NACE 37 and 90) whose main
activity is providing services for environment protection, mainly waste collection
disposal and sewage treatment,
- household sector there is no clear distribution into investment and current
expenditure in this sector; the specificity of household activities combines all the types
of expenditure together (SERIEE, 1994).
The latest part of this chapter concerns Polish surveys of environmental protection
expenditure in households.
2. Total environmental protection expenditure in UE
Total environmental expenditure in 2007
1
costs European economy around 220 billion
euro
2
. The biggest share was contributed by specialized producers 41,2% of the total
environmental expenditure, industry 31,0% and public sector 27,8% (Fig. 1 and Table
1).
The basic indicators used to analyse the dynamics of environmental expenditure are:
contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP),
the investment expenditure per inhabitant.
Environmental expenditure in EU25 in 2007 accounted for 1,8% GDP and in 2002 for 1,7%
GDP (except household expenditure) are presented in Fig. 2.

1
The latest available data.
2
Households expenditure are excluded.

Environmental Protection Expenditure in European Union

23
Specification
Time
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
European Union
(27 countries)
224 235
e)
205 960
e)
192 387
e)
184 629
e)
179 409
e)
173 353
e)

European Union
(25 countries)
219 953
e)
202 686
e)
190 332
e)
182 792
e)
178 206
e)
172 052
e)

European Union
(15 countries)
205 186
e)
189 410
e)
179 624
e)
173 023
e)
169 671
e)
163 963
e)

Belgium : : 133 6 245 5 963 5 752
Bulgaria 630 546 327 345 297 247
Czech Republic 2 613 2 309 1 449 1 410 1 050 675
Denmark 4 280 3 852 3 860 3 733 3 563 3 652
Estonia 424 399 265 209 121 134
Ireland : : : : : :
Greece : : : : 12 15
Spain 21 410
e)
19 988 18 744 17 593 16 610 15 190
France 40 893 36 662 34 548 34 175 31 061 30 201
Italy 55 479 52 409 48 690 46 764 41 608 46 005
Cyprus 286
e)
173 128 166 124 37
Latvia 218 180 92 85 87 102
Lithuania 605 572 293 226 178 188
Luxembourg 279 294 280 262 242 239
Hungary 2 002 1 945 2 027 1 780 1 485 1 358
Malta : : : : : :
Netherlands 11 493
e)
7 067 11 493 : 8 620 1 919
Austria 9 463 9 880 8 485 8 266 8 379 7 895
Poland 7 056 6 117 5 186 4 748 4 414 4 558
Portugal 1 773
e)
1 862 1 429 1 519 1 392 1 387
Romania 3 652 2 728 1 728 1 492 905 1 054
Slovenia 785 687 657 614 673 557
Slovakia 777 894 611 532 403 479
Finland 2 076 1 834 1 642 1 693 1 601 1 629
Sweden 2 169 1 989 2 055 1 807 1 776 1 677
United Kingdom 18 551
e)
15 903 14 456 13 224 12 454 11 802
: not available
e) estimated
Table 1. Environmental protection expenditure in European Union, million euro (Eurostat
Data Navigation Tree)


24

Fig. 1. The structure of environmental expenditure in 25 European Union countries in 2007
(Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)

Fig. 2. Environmental protection expenditure in EU25 as % of GDP in 2002 and 2007 by
sectors (Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)
Comparing the share of environmental protection expenditures in GDP in particular
countries, it could be noticed, that differences in environmental expenses are huge. Austria
is one of the countries with the highest indicator in European Union (Fig. 3). Moreover, that
expenditure per inhabitant in Austria is very high in 2007 it was about 820 euro. In other
EU countries this indicator came to 160 620 euro per inhabitant (Fig. 4).

Fig. 3. Environmental protection expenditure in selected countries EU as % of GDP, data
from the latest available survey (Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)


25

Fig. 4. Environmental protection expenditure in selected countries EU euro per inhabitant,
data from the latest available survey (Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)
Environmental expenditure, according to Classification of Environmental Protection
Activities (CEPA), are divided into nine environmental domains:
1. Protection of ambient air and climate
2. Wastewater management
3. Waste management
4. Protection and remediation of soil, groundwater and surface water
5. Noise and vibration abatement
6. Biodiversity and landscapes protection
7. Protection against radiation
8. Research and Development
9. Other environmental protection activities (mainly environmental administration and
management, education, training and information, indivisible expenditure and other
expenditure not classified elsewhere).
The business sector consists of:
1. agriculture, hunting, fishing, forestry,
2. industry sector:
- mining and quarrying,
- manufacturing,
- electricity, gas and water supply sector,
3. other business.
However, the environmental protection expenditure occur mainly in the industry sector.
During the period 2002-2007, the manufacturing sector in EU25, spent around 66% of total
environmental protection expenditure, whilst electricity, gas and water supply sector and
mining and quarrying sector 27% and 7% respectively. With reference to current
expenditure this disproportion is bigger 79%, 18% and 3% respectively (Georgescu, M.A.
& Cabeca J. C., 2010).
In 2007, the leading environmental domain in industry in 25 EU countries was waste
management (25,7%). The other important area of environmental expenditure was the
wastewater management and protection of ambient air and climate, which accounted for
25,7% and 25,4% of total expenditure. The structure of expenditure by the environmental
domains in industry in selected countries in 2007 is shown in Fig. 5.


26
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Czech
Republic
Spain France Netherlands Poland United
Kingdom
Protection of ambient air and climate Wastewater management
Waste management Non-core domains

Fig. 5. Structure of environmental expenditure in industry of selected countries in 2007
Current expenditure for environmental protection in 25 countries of European Union are
higher than investments expenditure. In 2002-2007 current expenditure represented around
81% of total expenditure, whilst investment expenditure 19% (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Investment and current environmental protection expenditure in 25EU in 2002-2007,
in million euro (Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)
2. Investment expenditure
Following the methodology applied in European Union (SERIEE, 1994), the investment
expenditure includes end-of-pipe and integrated investments:
the end-of-pipe investments (pollution treatment) they do not affect in the production
process itself (the production may be carried out without this kind of investment), but
they reduce and dispose pollutants generated in the production process. The most


27
investments in the public sector and in specialised producers according to the
methodology recommended by the Office of Statistics of the European Communities
EUROSTAT are entirely rated among end-of-pipe enterprises,
integrated technology (pollution prevention) they lead to reduction of generated
pollution through the modification of technological processes which makes the
production cleaner and more environmentally friendly. When a new production
process is introduced, the environmental expenditure refer to the expenditure that
outstrip the costs of cheaper and in working order, but less environmentally friendly
equipment.
The share of integrated technology in industry in EU25 exceeded the level of 35% in 2001
and in the year 2006 it increased to 43,0% (Georgescu, M.A. & Cabeca J. C., 2010). In 2007 it
was 39% (Fig. 7). Companies adjust to the requirements of environmental protection by
changing a production technology and implementing the best available productive and
environmental solutions. Further changes in the structure of investment expenditure can be
expected due to the implementation of a directive concerning integrated prevention and
reduction of pollution (a Directive 96/62/EEC on integrated prevention and reduction of
pollution IPPC). Enforcement of the Directive requires establishing standards of pollution
emission based on a concept of the Best Available Technique BAT, that guarantees
application of low-waste technologies, economical raw materials and energy use as well as
application of the latest scientific and technical achievements.

Fig. 7. Industrys environmental protection investments in EU25 in 2002-2007, million euro
In the industry sector, the environmental domain, which attracted most of capital
expenditure for both pollution treatment and pollution prevention investments, was
protection of ambient air and climate. The second domain was wastewater management.
This tendency is noticed since 2002 (Fig. 8, Fig. 9).
The public sector and specialized producers sector were dominated by end-of-pipe
investments, what resulted from the specificity of environmental protection activities. Major
expenditure was allocated for building and modernization of wastewater plants, dumping
sites and other waste disposal installations.


28

Fig. 8. The structure of industrys pollution treatment investments in EU25 in 2002-2007 by
the environmental domains (Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)

Fig. 9. The structure of industrys integrated technlology in EU25 in 2002-2007 by the
environmental domains (Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)


29
3. Current environmental expenditure
Total current expenditure is the sum of internal current expenditure and fees/purchases.
Internal current expenditure includes the use of energy, material, maintenance and own
personnel for measures made by the sector to protect the environment. A large part of
internal expenditure is related to operating environmental protection equipment. There are
also other internal expenditure such as general administration, education, information,
environmental management and certification, research and development. Internal current
expenditure includes purchases of connected and adapted non-capital goods
3
such as extra
cost for low sulphur fuels. These are sometimes not part of specific surveys but estimated
based on existing information e.g. on number of units and unit costs.
Fees/Purchases includes all purchases of environmental protection services, both from
public and private producers. These payments are clearly linked with an environmental
protection activity done outside the enterprise and should exclude e.g. fines and penalties.
The payments include:
- Payments to specialised producers (enterprises) for waste and wastewater collection
and treatment and payments to environmental consultants linked e.g. with
environmental management and education.
- Payments to Public sector for waste and wastewater collection and treatment (whatever
the name of the payments fees, charges etc) as well as permits and surveillance fees.
Subsidies/Transfers (given or received) include all types of transfers financing
Environmental Protection activities in other sectors, including transfers to or from other
countries. These constitute expenditure for the paying sector (public sector), and revenue for
the receiving sector (business sector and specialised producers sector). Payments of general
environmental or green taxes (such as energy taxes) are excluded.
Sometimes Environmental Protection activities produce by-products that have an economic
value. These could either be sold and generate revenues, or be used internally and lead to
reductions in costs. Examples include energy generated or material recovered, as a result of
waste treatment. There should always be a specific Environmental Protection activity (and
expenditure) that these receipts stem from. Receipts from by-products is the sum of the sales
value and the value of the cost-saving (if used internally) related to these by-products.
Public sector and specialised producers receive the payments for environmental protection
services. This is entered as revenues in the respective sector (EPER).
The main environmental domain of current costs in industry sector during the period 2002-
2007 was waste management (about 40%) and wastewater management (about 30%).
Approximately, 10% concern other environmental protection activities, like general
administration, education, information and environmental management Fig 11.

3
Connected products are products which are used directly and solely for environmental protection (for
example septic tanks, filters, waste bags).
Adapted products are products that are less polluting, at the time of their consumption and/or
scrapping, than equivalent traditional products. In most cases, such products are more costly, and their
production and consumption are usually encouraged by fiscal and other incentives. Products which are
cleaner (and therefore more environmentally friendly) when used or disposed of. These products are
sometimes also called (environmentally) cleaner products. Only the extra-cost is accounted for in the
environmental protection expenditure (Glossary of Environment Statistics, 1997).
Connected products are products which are used directly and solely for environmental protection (for
example septic tanks, filters, waste bags).


30
Current expenditure in public and specialized producers sectors was directed largely
towards ensuring a good provision of wastewater treatment and waste management
services (Georgescu, M.A. & Cabeca J. C., 2010).

Internal current expenditure
Related to operating environmental protection equipment
Protection of
ambient air
and climate
Wastewater
management
Waste
management
Protection
and
remediation
of soil,
groundwater
and surface
water
Noise and
vibrations
abatement
Biodiversity
and
landscape
protection
Protection
against
radiation
Research and development
General administration, education, information, environmental management and
certification
(+) plus (-) minus
Fees/purchases
(+) plus or (-) minus
Subsidies/Transfers
(-) minus
Receipts from by-products
= (equals)
Current expenditure
Fig. 10. Classification of current expenditure on the environment in industry sector

Fig. 11. The structure of industrys current expenditure in EU25 in 2002-2007 by the
environmental domains (Eurostat Data Navigation Tree)


31
4. Environmental expenditure in households
Environmental protection expenditure in households contains of 1) purchases of connected
and adapted products and 2) payments and fees for environmental protection services Fig.
12.

Expenditure (investment and current) - purchases
Protection of
ambient air
and climate
Wastewater
management
Waste
management
Noise and
vibrations
abatement
Biodiversity
and
landscape
protection
Other areas of
environmental
protection
(-) minus
Subsidies
+ (plus)
Payments and fees
collection and treatment of waste
collection and treatment of
wastewater
= (equals)
Environmental protection expenditure
Fig. 12. Classification of households expenditure on the environment
Based on Member Countries experience with the collection of data on private households there
is no need to make a distinction between investments and current expenditure (EPER).
Household purchases are viewed as current, in line with the national accounts. Examples are:
protection of ambient air and climate:
- heat consumption meters and thermo regulators;
- modernization of central heating systems for the entire building and for a single
apartment;
- installation of equipment for the treatment of fuel gases;
- purchase, operation and maintenance of air pollution control devices for motor vehicles
e.g. extra costs for use of more environmentally friendly goods such as unleaded petrol,
or service costs for proper adjustments of engines,
- purchase and installation of energy-saving windows;
- additional insulation for the building protecting against cold;


32
wastewater management:
- connection to the public sewer;
- purchase of sewage treatment facilities such as septic tanks,
- construction of individual wastewater treatment plants;
waste management:
- purchase of goods used in connection with waste management such as bins, bags,
composts etc.;
biodiversity and landscape protection:
- tree and bush planting;
- house facade repairs;
noise and vibrations abatement:
- purchase and installation of noise reducing windows;
- fences and live fences, noise and vibrations reducing screens.
Household expenditure for environmental protection includes all payments and fees for
services purchased from municipalities and specialised producers of environmental
protection services. These include mainly:
payments for the collection and treatment of waste,
payments for the collection and treatment of wastewater.
Data of environmental protection expenditures in household is not available in Eurostat.
Only a few EU countries conduct surveys in this sector (e.g. Austria, Hungary, Poland). In
Poland, environmental protection expenditure in private households are examined from
1998. They are the biggest amount of environmental protection expenditures in Polish
economy during the period 1998-2009 it was approximately the same amount as the sum
of expenditure in three sectors: public, business and specialized producers (Results of
surveys of environmental protection expenditure conducting in 1998-2010. Ministry of the
Environment in Poland).
The surveys are carried out on a representative sample of 1300 Polish households selected
randomly by the Central Statistical Office for the purpose of examinating Polish households
budgets. The survey covered 6 groups selected in accordance with their social and economic
status, namely:
- households of workers 44,6% of the sample,
- households of farmers with additional source of income 4,3%,
- households of farmers 5,7%,
- households of self-employed people 6,1%,
- households of the retired and pensioners 35,2%;
- households supported from non-profit sources 4,1%.
Environmental expenditure of households in 2009 amounted to 5,8 billion euro. The share of
purchases, installations and constructions of appliances as well as connected goods
accounted for 72,6%, while environmental services 27,4%.
Costs of purchase, installation and construction of environmental devices and products
referred mainly to air protection (77,6%), especially purchase and installation of energy-
saving windows, houses heat-insulation and heating installation modernization. The
majority of expenditure concerning bio-diversity and landscape protection was allocated for
renovations of buildings elevations and with regard to protection against noise and
vibrations purchase and installation of soundproof windows (Fig. 13).


33
Among the costs of environmental services, the majority (68,3%) consisted of wastewater
collection, treatment and discharge fees. The rest of 33,7% was constituted of waste
collection charges.
It should be noted, however, that the rates of fees for the environmental services related to
the environmental protection depended on the type of a building. For the purpose of the
survey two main groups were defined: a multi-family apartment house (53% households in
the sample) and a single-family house (43%). Moreover, in the case of 4% households the
delivered information was the total cost of environmental protection products and services
for their house (a single-family house), garage, summer house and bungalow. The average
services fees for different types of buildings are presented in Fig. 14.

Fig. 13. The structure of expenditure for purchasing connected goods to households in 2009
in Poland (Environment 2010. Statistical Information and Elaboration, 2010).
Many owners of single-family houses, mainly in the country, most probably used to discharge
their wastewater directly on the farmland and the most popular way of waste disposal was
burning them or taking it to an unauthorized dumping ground to avoid the costs of utilization.
The amount of charges for the environmental protection services was unrelated to the social
and economic status of the members of the household. However, the highest expenditure on
the purchase and installation of the equipment and products used directly for the purpose
of environmental protection was recorded in households of self-employed people
(excluding farmers) 397 euro in 2009, whereas the lowest 38 euro in households
supported from nonprofit sources. The average expenditure on the environment (services
payments excluded) by source of income is presented in Fig. 15.


34

Fig. 14. Cost of environmental protection services for different types of building in Poland in
2009 (in euro).

Fig. 15. The amount of expenditure on the purchase and installation of the equipment and
products used directly for the purpose of environmental protection by source of income in
all surveyed Polish households in 2009 (in euro).


35
5. Conclusion
Eurostat works towards systematically collecting environmental statistics for all economic
sectors within the EU. These statistics are used to assess the effectiveness of new legislation
and policies and to analyse the links between environmental pressures and the structure of
the economy.
For many years, European statistical services have collected data on air pollution, energy,
water consumption, wastewater, solid waste, and their management. The links between
these data and environmental data of an economic nature, such as environmental
expenditure enable policymakers to consider the environmental impacts of economic
activities, for example on resource consumption, air or water pollution, and waste
production, and to assess actions (such as investment and current expenditure) that may be
carried out to limit the causes and risks of pollution.
The analysis of spending on environmental protection has a strategic interest and allows an
evaluation of environmental policies already in place. A low level of expenditure does not
necessarily mean that a country is not effectively protecting its environment. Indeed,
information on expenditure tends to emphasise clean-up costs at the expense of cost
reductions which may have resulted from lower emissions or more effective protection
measures (Georgescu, M.A. & Cabeca J. C., 2010).
6. References
Broniewicz, E. (2001). Expenditure on the Environment by Polish Households in the
Year 2000, Economics and Environment, ed. by Poskrobko, B., pp. 117-132,
Foundation of Environmental and Resource Economists, ISSN 0867-8898,
Bialystok, Poland
Broniewicz, E. (2004). Environmental protection expenditure in Poland in comparison with
European Union countries, Proceedings of Business strategy and the environment, pp.
58-66, Leeds, UK, September 2004
CEPA 2000 Classification of Environmental Protection Activities and Expenditure
Commission Recommendation of 30 May 2001 on the recognition, measurement and
disclosure of environmental issues in the annual accounts and annual reports of
companies (2001/453/EC). Official Journal of the European Communities
Council Regulation No 58/97 of 20.12.1996 concerning structural business statistics
Environment 2010. Statistical Information and Elaboration (2010). Central Statistical Office, ISSN
0867-3217, Poland, 01-15.03.2011. Available from http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus
EPER Environmental Protection Expenditure And Revenues. Joint OECD/Eurostat
Questionnaire, 2002-2010
Eurostat Data Navigation Tree, 02.01-20.03.2011. Available from
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Georgescu, M.A. & Cabeca J. C. (2010). Environmental Protection Expenditure and
Revenues in the EU, EFTA and candidate countries 2001-2006, In: Eurostat. Statistics
in Focus, 31/2010, 12.01.2011. Available from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Glossary of Environment Statistics (1997). Studies in Methods, Series F, No. 67, United
Nations, New York, 10.03.2011. Available from http://stats.oecd.org/glossary


36
Regulation NO 2056/2002 of 5 November 2002 amending Council Regulation NO58/97
concerning Structural Business Statistics
Results of surveys of environmental protection expenditure conducting in 1998-2010.
Ministry of the Environment in Poland
SERIEE European System for the Collection of Economic Information on the Environment,
Manual, Luxemburg 1994
3
Community Ecology and Capacity: Advancing
Environmental Communication Strategies
among Diverse Stakeholders
Rosemary M. Caron, Michael E. Rezaee and Danielle Dionne
University of New Hampshire
United States
1. Introduction
Many socioeconomically and geographically diverse communities in the United States have
been challenged by occurrences of environmental contamination and the related complex
public health issues. The investigations associated with such concerns have traditionally
been the responsibility of governmental agencies. Communities facing potential
environmental exposures often believe that government-based environmental agencies are
not adequately addressing their concerns regarding risk, thus resulting in their
misunderstanding and distrust of the regulatory process. A schism develops whereby the
community perceives that government is either not doing enough to address their concerns
and/or are being influenced by the relevant industry. The governmental agencies involved
perceive that the community possesses an inaccurate or irrational perception of the potential
risks. As a result, a stressful relationship often arises.
Recommendations for effective risk communication have been developed and published
(Covello & Sandman, 2001; Hance et al., 1989; Sandman, 1989). Research has also
demonstrated the importance of developing relationships among stakeholders and its
impact on information delivery and reception (ATSDR, 2004). Given that stakeholder
groups perceive risk differently, it is imperative for each group to appreciate the viewpoints
of all involved to engage in effective dialog (Park et al., 2001; Tinker et al., 2001).
Cox (2006) defines environmental communication as the pragmatic and constitutive
vehicle for our understanding of the environment as well as our relationships to the natural
world; it is the symbolic medium that we use in constructing environmental problems and
negotiating societys different responses to them. Although opportunities for public
participation in environmental assessments have greatly increased, the environmental
communication process among key stakeholders needs further evaluation (Charnley &
Engelbert, 2005; McKinney & Harmon, 2002). The purpose of this chapter is to describe an
evaluative process to develop and propose recommendations that could improve the
environmental communication that occurs among diverse stakeholders, such as an
environmental regulation and protection agency, waste disposal and energy producing
facilities, community activists and the general public. Two case studies will be presented;
the first describes the management of environmental permitting decisions in several
disparate communities; and the second describes the management and perception of health
risks from a single-owner waste-to-energy facility in two distinct communities. To


38
accomplish this goal, this chapter will: 1.) examine how a state environmental agency and
waste disposal and energy producing facilities describe their environmental communication
experiences regarding various permitting operations and the risk perceptions of the
impacted communities; 2.) identify effective communication methods; 3.) discuss the
strengths and limitations of these activities; and 4.) propose recommendations for
practitioners to advance environmental communication strategies among these key
stakeholders.
1.1 Community ecology and capacity
Communities are important determinants in environmental health-related problems for
populations. A communitys ecology (i.e., its social, cultural, economic, and political
composition) can affect how a persistent and/or perceived environmental health problem is
addressed. For example, the primary stakeholders in a refugee resettlement communitys
childhood lead poisoning problem include the residents/resettled refugees in poor quality
housing, refugee resettlement agencies, social service agencies, the local city health
department, housing agencies, city building inspectors, realtors, property
owners/managers, child care providers, health care community, etc. Some stakeholders
view the childhood lead poisoning problem in the community as indicative of a larger issue,
namely a community that is undergoing growth and diversification due to its refugee and
immigrant resettlement status. Hence, others believe they are not able to solve the problem
due to its enormity and complexity. As a result, this persistent environmental public health
issue propagates in the community with varied efforts (Caron & Serrell, 2009; Wehrly, 2006).
Childhood lead poisoning has been described as a wicked persistent environmental public
health problem that is multi-factorial in nature and possesses no clear resolution due to the
involvement of numerous stakeholders who define the problem differently and who pose
uncoordinated solutions. Since wicked problems often possess no definitive solutions,
remediation must focus on how to best manage them (Caron & Serrell, 2009). As part of a
management practice for complex environmental public health issues, we propose that the
communitys ecology its political, ethnic and socioeconomic factors, including zoning
laws, housing policies, cultural behavior, and language barriers - is a key determinant in
shaping a populations perception of risk and in developing effective communication
strategies. In addition, understanding a communitys ecology can contribute to building the
communitys capacity to affect the local management and communication of persistent
and/or perceived environmental public health issues.
2. Case study: managing environmental permitting decisions in dissimilar
communities
The stakeholders considered in this work include a state environmental agency, facility
managers of Title V operating facilities and community residents living near the facilities.
Specifically, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Air Resources
Division (NHDES ARD) is responsible for monitoring and regulating air quality that is
protective of public health and the natural environment in the State of New Hampshire
(ARD, 2010). NHDES ARD accomplishes this goal via numerous programs including a
statewide permitting program to assure compliance with the Title V federal mandate. The
purpose of the Title V permitting process is to ensure that facilities will not emit hazardous
pollutants to a degree which could negatively affect human health. Specifically, the Title V
mandate states that facilities which emit over 100 tons of any regulated pollutant, such as
Environmental Communication Strategies among Diverse Stakeholders

39
carbon monoxide and sulfur oxides; or emit over 50 tons of nitrous oxides; or emit 10 tons of
any of the federally regulated hazardous air pollutants need to apply to the state
environmental agency for a Title V permit (ARD, 2008).
Table 1 outlines the Title V operating facilities examined in this study: Turnkey Recycling
and Environmental Enterprises, a solid waste management facility in operation since 1979 in
Rochester, New Hampshire (NH); Mt. Carberry Landfill, historically used as a landfill for
pulp and paper byproducts and a solid waste disposal site since 1989 in Berlin, NH; Four
Hills Landfill, a solid waste disposal site since 1970 in Nashua, NH; Indeck Energy Services,
Inc., a biomass electric generating facility in operation since 1987 in Alexandria, NH; Schiller
Station, historically a coal burning facility from 1950 through 2006 and now a woodchip
burning operation in Portsmouth, NH; and Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc., a solid waste
energy plant in operation since 1987 in Claremont, NH.

Facility Name Type of Industry In Operation Since Location
Population of
Community
1

Turnkey Recycling
and Environmental
Enterprises
Landfill 1979 Rochester, NH 30,527

Mt. Carberry Landfill 1989 Berlin, NH 10,109

Four Hills Landfill 1970 Nashua, NH 86,837

Indeck Energy
Services, Inc.
Electricity 1987 Alexandria, NH 1,521

Schiller Station Electricity 1950 Portsmouth, NH 20,495

Wheelabrator
Technologies, Inc.
Incinerator 1987 Claremont, NH 13,097
Table 1. Facility stakeholders involved in the environmental communication of permitting
decisions.
The community members living in the midst of these Title V operating facilities represent
the final stakeholder group. The demographics of these communities are diverse with three
communities considered rural and the remaining considered urban.
3. Methods
Data collection and analysis of the interactions among key stakeholders were conducted
using collective case study methodology (Cottrell & McKenzie, 2005). Data was collected
from publicly available New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES)
documents concerning specific Title V operating facilities in the State of New Hampshire.
These documents were in the form of written or e-mail correspondence, phone logs and

1
U.S. Census Bureau. Population Finder. (http://www.census.gov/)


40
public hearing audio tapes and written testimonies. A structured questionnaire was applied
to each occurrence of communication. Each document was reviewed and information
abstracted regarding the date and type of communication; origin of concern; responder;
general summary of concern; action requested; response time; total number of complaints
per facility; method of ongoing communication; whether feelings of distrust or doubt were
expressed by the community with respect to facility operations; the type of organization(s)
the community member contacted prior/following to communicating with the state agency
or facility; and non-verbal communication (e.g., body language) at public hearings.
Abstracted information was first organized in chronological order by facility; duplicate
records were removed; and a search for potentially missed documents was conducted. A
document summarizing record review information for each site was constructed.
Additionally, public inquiries/concerns received about each facility were reviewed and
classified into thematic areas.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted, following Institutional Review Board approval
from the University of New Hampshire, with NHDES employees involved in the Title V
permitting process and Title V operating facility managers. Respondents were asked
questions about the publics perception of their work and whether the facilitys operations
were considered to be contentious or non-contentious; the health and environmental
concerns of the impacted community; and who they considered the major stakeholders.
Respondents were asked if they had experience conducting and/or attending a public
hearing about their facility. Information pertaining to the type and number of concerns
communicated by the public was collected, as well as how these issues were addressed.
With respect to the environmental management of concerns, the respondents were queried
as to whether or not they believed they were proactive in involving the community and if
there was a professional at their respective organizations who was responsible for handling
the publics concerns. The last series of questions posed to the respondents inquired about
whether they thought improving environmental communication among all stakeholders
would enhance working relationships; whether an appointed liaison would assist with
environmental communication; and what specific recommendations they have to improve
the communication of environmental permitting decisions among stakeholders.
The interviews were transcribed and a content analysis, using QSR NVivo (a computer-
assisted qualitative data analysis program), was conducted of the structured interview
responses to extract and code recurring themes.
4. Results
4.1 Structured questionnaires
Tables 2A-F summarize the correspondence information among stakeholders regarding
each facility. In general, public inquiries were fielded by NHDES ARD staff and/or the
NHDES Complaint Manager. Inquiries were typically answered in two days or less. The
concerns expressed ranged from health concerns (e.g., cancer, respiratory illness) to
nuisance complaints (e.g., odor, noise, traffic). The actions most often requested involved
scheduling a public hearing, extending the public comment period, conducting air and
water quality testing, and initiating an independent investigation of NHDES
administration. In some instances, the community members present at the public hearing
called for the closure of the facility. Distrust of NHDES and/or the facility was expressed
for the majority of sites. One exception to this sentiment was the Mt. Carberry Landfill.

41
Common frustrations voiced by citizens included the inability to locate the appropriate
representative, either at NHDES or the facility, to communicate their concern(s) and
dissatisfaction with the response to their inquiry, thus leading them to contact the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or a local official to relay their concerns. Figures 1-
6 represent photographs of each facility examined.

Turnkey Recycling
and Environmental
Enterprises
Correspondence
Content
Phone E-mail Public Hearing Written
Time period of
Correspondence
2004, 2005 2003, 2004, 2005 2004 2004

Total Number 59 7 7 7

Responder NHDES
ARD;
NHDES
Complaint
Manager
NHDES ARD;
Title V Program
Manager
NHDES ARD;
Title V
Permitting
Engineer;
Facility
Manager
None

Summary of
Concern
Odor Odor Health
(cancer);
Odor;
Air quality;
Water quality
Health (colitis);
Odor;
Air quality;
Water quality

Response Time Same day Same day Same day Not applicable

Action Requested None Public hearing Air and water
quality
testing;
Deny permit;
Close facility
Air and water
quality testing;
Deny permit;
Close facility;
Investigate
NHDES

Perception of
Distrust
Yes Yes Yes Yes

Ongoing
Communication
None None None None

Other
Organizations
Contacted
None Director of Waste
Management
Services
None Director of Waste
Management
Services
Table 2A. Correspondence among stakeholders involved in the environmental
communication of permitting decisions for a landfill facility.


42

Mt. Carberry
Landfill
Correspondence
Content

Time period of
Correspondence
2006
No e-mail
correspondence
2007 2007

Total Number 16 1 4

Responder
NHDES
ARD

NHDES ARD and
Facility Manager
NHDES and
Director of
NHDES

Summary of Concern Odor
None in support
of facility
Title V permitting
process

Response Time Same day Same day Two days

Action Requested None
Extension of public
comment period
Public hearing

Perception of Distrust No No No

Ongoing
Communication
NHDES
Follow-up
None None

Other Organizations
Contacted
No No No
Table 2B. Correspondence among stakeholders involved in the environmental

Fig. 1. Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprises, Rochester, New Hampshire.
Source: http://www.greenrightnow.com/wabc/2009/05/19/unh-first-university-to-use-
landfill-gas-as-primary-fuel-source/#more-3818

43

Fig. 2A. Mt. Carberry Landfill, Berlin, NH. Fig. 2B. Flare at Mt. Carberry Landfill, Berlin,
NH.
Source for both photos: http://www.avrrdd.org/avrrdd-mt-carberry-landfill-berlin-nh.html

Fig. 3. Four Hills Landfill in Nashua, NH.
Source:http://www.gonashua.com/CityGovernment/Departments/PublicWorks/SolidWa
ste/tabid/135/Default.aspx


44
Four Hills
Landfill
Correspondence
Content
Phone E-mail
Public
Hearing
Written

Time period of
Correspondence
2007, 2008, 2009 2008
No public
hearing
No written
correspondence

Total Number 9 1

Responder
NHDES ARD;
NHDES Complaint
Manager
NHDES
Complaint
Manager

Summary of Concern
Odor;
Noise
Odor

Response Time 1-2 days Same day

Action Requested None None

Perception of
Distrust
No No

Ongoing
Communication
None Yes (via e-mail)

Other Organizations
Contacted
EPA; Mayors office;
local health
department
No
Table 2C. Correspondence among stakeholders involved in the environmental

Fig. 4. Indeck Energy Services, Inc., Alexandria, NH.
Source: http://www.indeckenergy.com/Alternative_Fuels.php

45

Indeck
Energy
Services,
Inc.
Correspondence
Content

Time period of
Correspondence
1986, 1991,
2008, 2009
No e-mail
correspondence
2000, 2007 1986, 1999, 2007

Total Number 5 21 7

Responder
NHDES
Complaint
Manager

NHDES ARD and
Facility Manager
NHDES ARD and
NHDES Director

Summary of
Concern
Air quality;
Noise

Air quality, In
support of permit
for economic
reasons
Odor; Noise; Traffic;
Air quality


Action Requested
Air quality
testing

Air quality testing;
more information
on facility
operations
Information on
facility operations
and plans; Request a
public hearing

Perception of
Distrust
Yes Yes Yes

Ongoing
Communication
None None None

Other
Organizations
Contacted
No No No
Table 2D. Correspondence among stakeholders involved in the environmental
communication of permitting decisions for an energy (electricity) facility.


46

Schiller
Station
Correspondence
Content

Time period of
Correspondence
2002, 2004,
2007
2003, 2006, 2007 2004 2004

Total Number 5 3 3 3

Responder
NHDES ARD;
NHDES
Complaint
Manager
NHDES ARD;
NHDES Complaint
Manager
NHDES ARD and
Facility Manager
NHDES ARD

Summary of
Concern
Coal dust
damaged
property; Air
quality
Health (cancer,
allergies); Coal
dust damaged
property; Air
quality
Coal dust damaged
property; Air quality
Coal dust damaged
property; Air
quality

Response Time Same day Same day Same day Two days

Action Requested None None
Air quality testing;
One organization in
support of the
facilitys operation
Air quality testing
of ambient air in
homes; Requested
a public hearing

Perception of
Distrust
No No Yes Yes

Ongoing
Communication
None None None None

Other
Organizations
Contacted
No No No No

Table 2E. Correspondence among stakeholders involved in the environmental
communication of permitting decisions for an energy (electricity) facility.

47

Fig. 5. Schiller Station, Portsmouth, NH.
Source:http://www.unhenergyclub.com/pastevents.php

Fig. 6. Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc., Claremont, NH.
Source: http://www.wheelabratortechnologies.com/index.cfm/our-clean-energy-
plants/waste-to-energy-plants/wheelabrator-claremont-company-lp/


48

Wheelabrator
Technologies,
Inc.
Correspondence
Content
Phone E-mail
Public
Hearing
Written

Time period of
Correspondence
2005, 2006 2007
No
public
hearing
1995

Total Number 5 1 11

Responder
NHDES ARD;
NHDES
Complaint
Manager
NHDES ARD;
NHDES
Complaint
Manager
NHDES ARD; NHDES Director

Summary of
Concern
Health
(respiratory
illness); Odor;
Air quality
Health
(respiratory
illness); Air
quality

General health concerns; Air
quality; Water quality; Failure of
facility to comply with EPAs
emission standards


Action Requested
Air quality
testing
Air quality
testing

Facility must engage in smoke
stack emission testing;
Development of more strict
emission standards; Facility must
become compliant with emission
standards; Deny permit; Facility
should communicate with the
affected community

Perception of
Distrust
Yes Yes Yes

Ongoing
Communication
None None None

Other
Organizations
Contacted
EPA EPA No
Table 2F. Correspondence among stakeholders involved in the environmental
communication of permitting decisions for an incineration facility.
4.2 Structured interviews
Both NHDES employees and Title V operating facility managers reported interacting with
the public about environmental concerns and agreeing on who the stakeholders were in the
environmental permitting process. All respondents believed that the respective facility was
viewed positively by the public at the time of the interview. Initially, they may not have
been viewed favorably but Once there was some transparency developed, the public

49
welcomed the facility. They were happy that the facility was going to provide jobs in the
area. However, the incinerator was regarded by both NHDES and the facility manager as
having a negative public perception. Interestingly, another incinerator, owned by the same
parent company, located in a different part of the state is perceived positively by the
surrounding community. The next case study examines the differences in environmental
communication utilized by this facility in two distinct communities.
One landfill experienced public outcry when it announced that it would be purchasing and
re-opening a facility that had been closed for fifteen years. According to NHDES, this
facility did not engage the surrounding community in their plans and the community
attended the public hearing to obtain an update on the facilitys approach. Many of the
issues presented at the public hearing could have been addressed beforehand but the facility
was not proactive in involving the public. Another landfill facility manager reported that
Hearings have generally been a good experience, especially when the public doesnt show
up. The facility manager from a similar site commented that Our facility does a horrible
job reaching out to the publicwe are lacking in outreach. In contrast, the Mt. Carberry
Landfill held three public meetings. The first two meetings were sponsored by the facility
owners and allowed the public to voice their concerns and served as informational
sessions. When the official public hearing was held, all of the issues had been addressed
and there was no conflict. The facility manager for Mt. Carberry reported that We told the
public what was going on, how we were going to solve the problem, and we told them that
we would keep them involved all along the way and we did!
When asked if NHDES and the facility were proactive in involving the public in the
permitting process, there were varied responses including NHDES and my facility have
been reactive instead of proactive and We [facility] werent that involved actually and I
think its been a combination of both.
When asked if improving environmental communication would benefit the environmental
permitting process, the responses varied. NHDES stated Yes, hopefully, ideally. The more
ongoing non-regulatory communication, the less issues are able to build up over
timeThere needs to be a continuous avenue for people to easily voice their concerns.
One facility manager stated We feel that it isnt very practical or efficient to reach out to the
community before any kind of permitting decisions are started. Another manager
specifically noted that their filing for a Title V permit was completely voluntaryWe
dont meet the guidelines to be considered a major polluting landfill. We applied for a Title
V permit to be proactive. The responses were also mixed about whether an appointed
liaison would help improve environmental communication. NHDES stated This depends
on who they are affiliated withIf there was a person in this position, it would be helpful if
each stakeholder had trust in this person. However, how this trust is built is unclear. It is
quite possible that this person could be another barrier in the communication process and
act as another layer of litigation. One facility manager stated that one person, one
contact would be very beneficial in improving environmental communication. In contrast,
another facility manager stated that A person who has this position would get beat up by
all the stakeholders involved. I would have to say No.
Table 3 summarizes the recommendations of NHDES and the facility managers to improve
the communication with impacted communities regarding environmental permitting
decisions. Key recommendations include conducting more informal conversation type
meetings prior to the public hearing; presenting information at an appropriate educational
level; and engaging in public outreach via the Internet, mailings, print media and/or a


50
community liaison; integrating a practice of transparency of information among
stakeholders; and creating a uniform meeting setup.

Hold informal conversational type meetings prior to the public hearing for
concerns and questions to be addressed (NHDES ARD)
Alter the meeting room setup for the public hearing so an Us versus Them
scenario is not created (NHDES ARD)
Keep people informed via web sites, mailings, and newspapers (Landfill facility)
Community liaison who could share information among stakeholders (Incinerator
facility)
Be transparent with information and the facilitys operations (Landfill facility)
Acknowledge differences in public perception (Electricity generating facility)
Explain the permitting process and emission standards to the public in an
educationally appropriate manner (Landfill facility)
Facilities need to be more involved in the community (Landfill facility)
Table 3. Summary of recommendations from state agency representatives and facility
managers on how to improve environmental communication to the public.
5. Managing environmental permitting decisions in dissimilar communities:
discussion
Effective environmental communication among all stakeholders is essential when
addressing environmental health risks. Bennett (1999) and McComas (2003) describe how
organizations will earn the trust of the community based on the content and delivery of
their communication; the willingness for an inclusive, community-based participatory
interaction; and their reputation for taking action. There is agreement that environmental
communication among stakeholders be an integral component of the working relationship
and that resources be allocated to develop public outreach plans that are tailored to the
specific community (Brauer et al., 2004; Parkin, 2004).
Given that stakeholder groups perceive risk differently, it is imperative for each group to
appreciate the viewpoints of all involved to engage in effective dialog (Park et al, 2001;
Tinker et al., 2001). Therefore, we propose that effective and proactive environmental
communication that considers the communitys ecology (i.e., social, cultural, economic and
political composition) among all stakeholders in all types of communities with a regulated
industry is essential when addressing perceived health risks to the environmental and
population. Based on our systematic examination of the environmental communication that
occurred among a state environmental agency, six Title V operating facilities and the public
concerning environmental permitting decisions perceived to impact human health, we
developed recommendations to facilitate best practices in environmental communication.
These recommendations for practitioners are presented in Section 10: Recommendations.
6. Case study: managing perceived health risks from a single-owner waste-
to-energy facility in two distinct communities
The perceived health risks and environmental communication from two waste-to-energy
facilities operated by the same parent company are examined in this work. Waste

51
Management, Inc., of Houston, Texas owns Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. which
operates several waste-to-energy facilities across the United States. Wheelabrator
operates two such municipal solid waste incinerators in Claremont, New Hampshire
(NH) and Concord, NH, respectively. The Claremont, NH facility began operation in 1987
and provides disposal of up to 200 tons of municipal solid waste daily for approximately
70,000 people. This facility can provide electricity to 5,600 homes. The Concord, NH
facility began operation in 1989 and provides disposal of up to 500 tons of municipal solid
waste daily for approximately 150,000 people. This facility can provide electricity to
17,000 homes (Wheelabrator, 2010).
These facilities use the same waste-to-energy method and are considered Title V operating
facilities by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES). The
purpose of the Title V permitting process is to ensure that facilities will not emit hazardous
pollutants to a degree which could negatively affect human health. Specifically, facilities
which emit over 100 tons of any regulated pollutant, such as carbon monoxide and sulfur
oxides; emit over 50 tons of nitrous oxides; or emit 10 tons of any of the federally regulated
hazardous air pollutants need to apply to the state environmental agency for a Title V
permit (ARD, 2008).
As required by current NHDES permits, the Wheelabrator sites continuously monitor
carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, as well as other emission indicators
such as steam flow and temperature. All monitoring and operational information are
maintained in facility records, in accordance with state and federal requirements.
[NH]DES oversees and witnesses the performance of annual relative accuracy tests and
audits facility records in order to ensure the accuracy of Wheelabrators continuous
emissions monitoring system. [NH]DES also conducts full Compliance Evaluations at least
every two years, witnesses annual compliance stack tests and reviews resultant stack test
reports for accuracy (ATSDR, 2009).
6.1 Two communities: home to the same environmental policy
The demographics of the Claremont and Concord New Hampshire communities are similar
with respect to age and sex. Both communities are also classified as cities. However, the
demographic information for education, economic and housing characteristics are different.
Table 4 outlines selected demographic characteristics of these two communities.
Briefly, Claremont is a city in the western part of New Hampshire with a population of
12,968. It is situated along the Connecticut River in Sullivan County. It is the largest
incorporated community in Sullivan County and ranks 22
nd
in population size among cities
and towns in New Hampshire. The majority of the population (97.7%) is White and 78.7%
of the population 25 years of age and older have completed high school while 12.8% have a
Bachelors degree. The median household income in 1999 was $34,949 and the median value
of a single-family owner-occupied home was $79,800 (Census, 2010).
Concord is the state capital with a population of 42,255. It is situated along the Merrimack
River in Merrimack County and ranks 3
rd
in population size among cities and town in New
Hampshire. The majority of the population (95.5%) is White and 88.6% of the population 25
years of age and older have completed high school while 30.7% have a Bachelors degree.
The median household income in 1999 was $42,447 and the median value of a single-family
owner-occupied home was $112,300 (Census, 2010).


52
6.2 Stakeholders in environmental communication
The stakeholders considered in this work include a state environmental agency, community
activists living near the facilities and the general public. Specifically, the New Hampshire
Department of Environmental Services, Air Resources Division (NHDES ARD) is
responsible for monitoring and regulating air quality that is protective of public health and
the natural environment in the State of New Hampshire (ARD, 2010). NHDES ARD
accomplishes this goal via numerous programs including a statewide permitting program to
assure compliance with the Title V federal mandate (ARD, 2008).
Citizens Leading for Environmental Action and Responsibility (CLEAR) is a community
activist group that is primarily comprised of Claremont, NH residents. The mission of
CLEAR is to respect and value the people, the environment, the public health, the
political process, and the economics of our community and region;encourage public
participation in the decision-making process to promote the principles of environmental,
political, social, and economic health;commit to an organizational framework that is non-
profit, open, democratic, and accountable (CLEAR, 2010). The general public living or
spending time in the communities that house these Title V operating facilities represents the
final stakeholder group. Figure 7 represents photographs of the industry examined.

Claremont, NH Concord, NH

Total population
2
12,968 42,255

Race: White 97.7% 95.5%

High school graduate 78.7% 88.6%

Bachelors degree 12.8% 30.7%

Median household income
3
$34,949 $42,447

Median value of a single-
family owner-occupied home
$79,800 $112,300

Table 4. Demographic characteristics of two communities that host a waste-to-energy
facility
4
.

2
Population estimate for 2008, U.S. Census Bureau, Population Finder. (http://www.census.gov/)
3
Median household income for 1999, U.S. Census Bureau, Population Finder. (http://www.census.gov/)

53

Fig. 7. A and B. Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc. in Claremont and Concord, NH,
respectively.
Source: http://www.wheelabratortechnologies.com/index.cfm/our-clean-energy-
plants/waste-to-energy-plants/wheelabrator-claremont-company-lp/
7. Methods
7.1 Survey instrument
Following Institutional Review Board approval from the University of New Hampshire, a
cross-sectional study design was utilized to examine the sources, believability and utility of
information and perceptions about environmental health issues among a relevant sample of
residents and visitors of the two study communities. Self-report questionnaires utilizing a
4-point Likert scale and multiple choice questions were administered over a five month
period at different times and locations (e.g., retail locations and churches of various
denominations) in each community. These anonymous surveys were immediately collected
from the participants upon completion. Alternatively, participants could choose to mail
their completed survey to the University of New Hampshire via self-addressed and
stamped envelopes.
All questionnaires had a cover letter attached that explained the purpose of the study and
emphasized the anonymity and confidentiality of the results. Participants were told to keep
this letter for their records. There were no incentives for participating in this study. Additional
open-ended comments from participants were recorded at the end of the survey.
The 19-item questionnaire was designed to determine demographic information, self-reported
knowledge about sources and believability of information and perceptions about
environmental health issues in the community. Revisions were made during the pilot testing
phase of the questionnaire. Ambiguities associated with the survey content were not
identified during test trials that were conducted prior to official questionnaire administration.
The survey questions were organized into four sections. First, respondents were asked for
demographic information (e.g., length of residence in the community, education level, annual
income) and questions pertaining to their interest and level of participation in community
issues. Respondents were then asked how often they think about their physical environment

4
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Population Finder. (http://www.census.gov/)


54
and to choose what environmental health issue in their community concerned them the most
from the following list: water quality, land conservation, air pollution, food security and
other. This question was followed by an inquiry regarding whether the respondents thought
they were well-informed about environmental health issues in their community. Next,
respondents were asked to indicate where they would rank their environmental issue of
interest relative to other issues (e.g., property taxes) affecting their local community.
In order to determine sources of environmental health information, respondents were asked
to choose from the following sources in the next section of the survey: federal agencies (e.g.,
Environmental Protection Agency, Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry); state
agencies (e.g., New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, New Hampshire
Department of Health and Human Services); local government (e.g., city councilor or
Mayor); environmental groups (e.g., Greenpeace); academia (university presentations,
studies, peer-reviewed literature); media sources (e.g., newspaper, television, radio,
Internet); other. Respondents were instructed to circle all that applied to them. Respondents
were then asked to rate their believability of the above-mentioned sources of information.
Next, in order to determine which media sources were the most useful, respondents were
asked to choose from the following sources: television programs, print resources (e.g.,
pamphlets), newspaper articles or editorials, community meetings, informational websites.
The third series of questions pertained to the respondents attitude about public meetings.
Respondents were asked if they had ever attended a public meeting and whether they
believed public meetings were an effective means to communicate environmental health
information. Next, respondents were asked if they believed whether their opinion, if voiced
at a public meeting, would be taken seriously by officials.
Finally, the last series of survey questions inquired whether or not the respondents believed
the status of their personal health is related to the condition of the environment.
Respondents were specifically asked if they were familiar with trash incineration and
whether or not they believed it to be an effective form of waste disposal.
All data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Descriptive analyses
were done for each of the participant responses by determining frequencies and
proportions. Comparisons of responses were made across both communities by utilizing
the chi-square statistic, cross tabulations and independent sample t-tests to assess the
statistical significance of these comparisons. For statistical tests, P-values less than 0.05 were
considered to be statistically significant. Unknowns were accounted for in all variables.
7.2 Structured interview instrument
Structured interviews were conducted, following Institutional Review Board approval from
the University of New Hampshire, with DES employees involved in Title V permitting and
environmental health investigations and community activists from CLEAR to examine the
experiences that shaped both parties perceptions of current environmental communication
methods.
Participants were asked semi-structured, open-ended questions about the publics
perception of their work, whether the facilities operations were considered to be
contentious or non-contentious and the health and environmental concerns regarding the
facilities. Participants were asked if they had experience conducting and/or attending a
public hearing about the facility. Information pertaining to the type and number of
concerns communicated by the public was collected, as well as how these issues were
addressed. With respect to the environmental management of concerns, NHDES was

55
queried as to whether or not they believed they were proactive in involving the community
and if they employed a professional who was responsible for handling the publics concerns.
CLEAR was queried as to their perception in regards of their inclusion, by NHDES, in health
investigations concerning the facility and communication efforts from NHDES. The last series
of questions posed to the participants inquired about whether they thought improving
environmental communication among all stakeholders would enhance working relationships;
the usefulness of having an appointed community liaison to assist with environmental
communication; and what specific recommendations they have to improve the environmental
communication among stakeholders. The interviews were transcribed and a content analysis,
using QSR NVivo (a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis program), was conducted of
the structured interview responses to extract and code recurring themes.
8. Results
8.1 Two communities: sources, believability and utility of information and perceptions
about environmental health issues
One hundred and nine of 250 surveys (44% response rate) were completed and returned by
community members and/or visitors to the Claremont and Concord, NH communities. Of
the completed 109 surveys, 54 were from the Claremont community and 55 were from the
Concord community.
As shown in Table 5, survey results indicate statistically significant differences between the
Claremont, NH and Concord, NH survey respondents with respect to demographic

Claremont,
NH
Concord,
NH
P-value

College education 53.0% 92.2% 0.000

Annual income $25,000 or greater 55.5% 98.2% 0.000

Lived in the community for ten years or more 51.9% 76.4% 0.008

Active in community issues 42.6% 65.5% 0.017

Ranked the priority of environmental issues higher than
other community issues (e.g., property taxes)
38.5% 64.2% 0.008

Familiar with trash incineration as
a waste disposal method
75.5% 92.6% 0.015
Table 5. Demographic characteristics of two communities and survey respondents interest
in environmental health issues in their community that hosts a waste-to-energy facility.
characteristics and involvement in environmental health issues. For example, Concord, NH
respondents reported higher annual incomes of $25,000 or more (98.2%) compared to
Claremont, NH respondents (55.5%). In terms of education level, more Concord, NH
respondents completed college education (92.2%) compared to Claremont, NH respondents
(53.0%). In addition, Concord, NH respondents were more likely to have lived in their


56
community for more than ten years (76.4%) compared to Claremont, NH respondents
(51.9%). Concord, NH respondents were also identified as being more active in community
issues (65.5%) compared to Claremont, NH respondents (42.6%). Furthermore, 64.2% of
Concord, NH respondents ranked the priority of environmental health issues higher than
other community issues (e.g., property taxes) compared to 38.5% of Claremont, NH
respondents. Lastly, 92.6% of Concord, NH respondents and 75.5% of Claremont, NH
respondents were familiar with trash incineration as a waste disposal effort.
As shown in Table 6, survey results demonstrate statistically significant differences and
similarities between these two communities with respect to information sources,
believability and usefulness. For instance, Concord, NH respondents were more likely to
not only obtain information from state agencies (61.1%), but they were also more likely to
believe it (67.3%) compared to Claremont, NH respondents. Also, Concord, NH respondents
were more likely to obtain information from environmental groups (50.0%) compared to
Claremont, NH respondents (18.5%). Interestingly, both Concord, NH (92.6%) and
Claremont, NH (79.6%) respondents were very likely to obtain information from media
sources such as newspapers, television, radio and the Internet. However, Claremont, NH
respondents were more likely to believe media sources (46.0%) and use (56.6%) the
information from the television compared to Concord, NH respondents. Yet, respondents
from both the Concord, NH (55.6%) and the Claremont, NH (66.0%) communities reported
newspapers to be the most useful source of information.
In terms of having attended public meetings in the past and their effectiveness, both
communities were similar in their responses. For example, respondents in the Concord, NH
(70.9%) and Claremont, NH (56.6%) communities reported that they had attended a public
meeting in the past. Respondents from Concord, NH (52.7%) and Claremont, NH (64.3%)
reported that they found such a venue useful for communicating environmental health
information. However, respondents from Concord, NH (31.5%) and Claremont, NH (24.5%)
reported that if they voiced their opinion in a public meeting, they believed that their
comments would not be taken seriously by officials in attendance.
Furthermore, respondents from Concord, NH (63.6%) and Claremont, NH (58.5%) believed
that the condition of the environment plays a role in their personal health. Respondents
from Concord, NH (92.6%) and Claremont, NH (75.5%) reported that they were familiar
with trash incineration but these same respondents did not believe it was an effective means
of waste disposal (58.0% and 61.4%, respectively.)
Cross-tabulation analyses indicated several statistically significant relationships (Table 7).
For example, respondents with a college education were more likely to use environmental
groups (43.4%) and the Internet (43.4%) as a source of environmental health information
compared to respondents without a college education. Respondents who did not have a
college education reported television (70.8%) as a useful media source for communicating
environmental health information. In addition, respondents with a college education were
more likely to report ever having attended a public meeting (70.2%), as well as being
familiar with trash incineration as a disposal method (89.2%). Similarly, respondents who
reported being more active in community issues were also more likely to report ever having
attended a public meeting (81.0%), as well as being familiar with trash incineration as a
disposal method (91.4%). Lastly, there were also significant relationships identified between
living in the community for ten years or more and being well informed about community
issues (62.3%).

57

Claremont, NH Concord, NH P-value

Sources of
environmental health
information

State Agencies 24.1% 61.1% 0.000

Environmental
Groups
18.5% 50.0% 0.001

Media Sources 79.6% 92.6% 0.051

Believability of sources
of environmental health
information

State Agencies

42.3% 67.3% 0.030
Media Sources 46.0% 28.3% 0.042

Useful media sources
for obtaining
information

Television 56.6% 18.5% 0.000

Newspapers 66.0% 55.6% 0.267

Table 6. Survey respondents sources, believability and usefulness of environmental health
information from two communities that host a waste-to-energy facility.


58
Level of Education No College Education College Education P-value
Environmental groups
as source of
environmental
information
4.0% 43.4% 0.000

Television as useful
media source for
obtaining environmental
information
70.8% 27.7% 0.000

Internet as useful media
source for obtaining
environmental
information
20.8% 43.4% 0.045

Ever attended a public
meeting
41.7% 70.2% 0.010

Familiar with trash
incineration as a waste
disposal method
66.7% 89.2% 0.008
Involvement in
Community Issues
Less Active More Active P-value
Ever attended a public
meeting
44.0% 81.0% 0.000

Familiar with trash
incineration as a waste
disposal method
75.5% 91.4% 0.025
Length of time lived in
community
Less than Ten Years More than Ten Years P-value
Active in community
issues
38.5% 62.9% 0.014

Well-informed about
issues in the community
39.5% 62.3% 0.023

Table 7. Demographic characteristics and survey respondents practices about
environmental health information and issues from two communities that host a waste-to-
energy facility.

59
8.2 State agency and community activists as stakeholders: perception of
environmental communication
Twelve individual structured interviews with NHDES employees involved in Title V
permitting and environmental health investigations and community activists from CLEAR
were conducted to examine the experiences that shaped their perception of current
environmental communication methods.
Through structured interviews with NHDES and a review of publicly available documents
(e.g., phone records, e-mail and written correspondence and public hearing recordings)
housed at NHDES, it was determined that the public inquiries concerning the Wheelabrator
companies were mainly for the facility in Claremont, NH and not Concord, NH, even
though they have identical operations. The public inquiries were fielded by NHDES ARD
staff and/or the NHDES Complaint Manager. The concerns expressed ranged from health
issues (e.g., cancer, respiratory illness) to nuisance complaints (e.g., odor, noise) to
environmental issues (e.g., poor air and water quality), all of which were perceived to be
due to the operation of the incinerator. The actions most often requested by the public for
the Claremont, NH facility included air and water quality testing, compliance evaluations
with state and federal emission standards and communication from the facility with the
affected community. In some instances, the community members called for the closure of
the facility. Distrust of NHDES and/or the facility was expressed in the public documents.
Structured interviews with community activists (n=7) demonstrated that they feel there is
more that should be done regarding this issue (waste-to-energy). All interviewees
discussed this theme in their individual interviews. The activists recommended that state
government should further restrict trash incineration. Several interviewees discussed the
recent ban on construction and demolition material incineration and pointed out that if this
material is outlawed, everything should be banned.
Another theme that emerged was the activists perception that the state agency pays
inadequate attention to the issue of waste incineration in their communities. The activists
are also very distrustful of state and industry involvement because many believe the
company that owns the two municipal waste incinerators of interest, discusses with NHDES
when random emissions testing will occur in advance so the incinerator will burn cleaner
trash on the testing days. They believe that this skews the data so any emission report
released by NHDES is not accurate.
When asked about efforts to improve environmental communication, community activists
had mixed reactions. The majority of activists reported that the state agency did a decent
job at communicating environmental health information. Beyond typical communication
venues, such as newspapers, Internet, and public meetings, activists were hard pressed to
suggest anything new. Several community activists mentioned that there was discussion
about creating a community panel to review environmental community issues. Decisions
regarding the environment (and the incinerator) would go to this panel for review. This
idea was met with opposition by the local government and never came to fruition.
Community activists were asked about the effectiveness of having a community liaison
located in their community. This individual would gather concerns and questions from the
community, relay those concerns and questions to the appropriate state agency and then
disseminate information back to the community. Unanimous support among the activists
for such a position of this nature was expressed.
Interviews with NHDES regulators and investigators (n=5) revealed their belief that
community activists do not acknowledge the states effort to respond to their concerns. On


60
multiple occasions, requests made by community activists were explored, such as the
concern that the Claremont, NH facility was responsible for excessive cancer in that
community. As a result, NHDES, in conjunction with the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry, conducted a community health investigation and analyzed twenty-four
major cancer types from 1987-2001. It was determined, from the available data, the cancer
rates for the specific types of cancer analyzed were within the expected range (ATSDR,
2006). This was a time-consuming endeavor and utilized many staff and budgetary
resources. When results were presented to the community, activists were not pleased with
the findings and discredited the initiative. The activists argued that the community health
investigation was not done in a way that was inclusive of the community, and that the
analysis was unacceptable and the results were inaccurate. As a result, state regulators
believed that there was not much that could be done to remedy community activists
concerns short of closing the Claremont, NH facility.
Another major theme expressed by NHDES involved community activists communication
with their organization. Direct questions and concerns were reported to be more effective
than emotional propaganda from activists. An example expressed multiple times in
NHDES interviews was that there were two types of community activists. There are the
community activists that send emotional propaganda, such as hundreds of postcards with
dead fish on them to NHDES claiming that the mercury emitted from the Claremont, NH
facility is killing all the fish. Other types of emotional propaganda that have been used by
this reported type of activist include the mailing of pictures of residents who have died
from cancer with messages explaining that the negligence of NHDES to shut down the
facility was the direct cause of their death. In contrast, the other type of community
activist sends specific questions and concerns that NHDES can investigate and reply with
factual data. This type of communication was preferred and was believed to be more
effective.
NHDES regulators and investigators were asked if it would be effective to have a
community liaison position in New Hampshire communities where a contentious
relationship exists between a community and an industry within the community. The
responses were mixed about whether an appointed community liaison would help improve
environmental communication. NHDES stated This depends on who they are affiliated
withIf there was a person in this position, it would be helpful if each stakeholder had trust
in this person. However, how this trust is built is unclear. It is quite possible that this
person could be another barrier in the communication process and act as another layer of
litigation.
9. Managing perceived health risks from a single-owner waste-to-snergy
facility in two distinct communities: discussion
An ongoing, practical challenge for state agencies involved in investigating community
concerns related to an industrial process perceived to impact the environment and human
health is how to most effectively communicate with the community as a key stakeholder.
We propose that investigators and regulators need to be able to 1.) identify the
communitys ecology, that is the communitys social, cultural, economic and political
composition and 2.) understand the communitys ecology to engage in effective
environmental communication. State agencies frequently describe communities as groups
of people living within a certain area, while communities may describe themselves on a

61
more detailed level, such as by their socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, race/ethnicity,
etc. (Parkin, 2004). We present the relationships between the demographic characteristics of
two communities that host an identical waste-to-energy facility owned by the same parent
company, and various communicative structures, such as the sources, believability and
utility of environmental health information accessed by these populations, as well as their
level of knowledge about trash incineration, the industrial process of concern. We
demonstrate that disparate populations that host a similar industry access and believe
different sources of environmental health information rank the priority of environmental
health issues compared to community health issues differently and have different levels of
activity on community issues. Our work suggests that ecological and demographic
differences in communities need to be assessed, in order to identify the multidimensional
components of the communities risk perception and to be able to determine the most
effective means by which to communicate environmental information.
Interestingly, a review of publicly available documents and structured interviews with
community activists and agency stakeholders determined that although two NH
communities host an identical municipal waste incinerator, the Claremont community,
compared to the Concord community, was more vociferous in regards to their perception
that the facility was a risk to the health of the population and their environment. In
addition, the Claremont community was hesitant to believe the results of a health
consultation and public health assessment conducted by NHDES and the federal Agency of
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry that determined the Claremont area was in
compliance with all National Ambient Air Quality Standards for the following criteria
pollutants: sulfur dioxide, particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter, ozone and
nitrogen dioxide; and that cancer rates for 24 major cancer types were all within their
expected ranges over the fifteen-year period studied (ATSDR, 2006; ATSDR, 2009). We
suggest that demographic differences may contribute to the dissimilarity in risk perception
of two communities for this industrial process, however, it is not the sole factor. We
propose that effective and proactive environmental communicative structures that take into
consideration the communitys ecology among all stakeholders in all types of communities with
a regulated industry is essential when addressing perceived health risks to the environment
and population. Such practices could result in improved relationships with communities
and public perception and expectations of community health investigations.
10. Recommendations for practitioners
Both case studies utilized the cultural-experiential model of risk, which requests information
regarding the experience and views of impacted populations and their assessment of risk
(Cox, 2006). We propose that part of effective environmental communication on the part of
practitioners involves not only understanding the communitys ecology but also the
importance of engaging the public sphere to help build the communitys capacity to address
the environmental health issue of concern. Cox (2006) defines the public sphere as The
realm of influence created when individuals engage others in communication through
conversation, argument, debate, questions and nonverbal acts about subjects of shared
concern of topics that affect a wider community. The public sphere needs to be the
common ground to communicate misunderstandings, knowledge deficits and
environmental education. We utilized the cultural-experiential model to better understand


62
the public sphere experienced by dissimilar communities that host different regulated
industries, and in one instance, an identical industry.
Based on our systematic examination of the environmental communication preferences and
practices among a state environmental agency, Title V operating facilities, community
activists and the general public concerning environmental permitting decisions perceived to
impact human health, we developed the below recommendations to facilitate best practices
in environmental communication:
1. Initiate communication early with the community: Proactive communication to potentially
affected communities by state agencies and neighboring facilities could facilitate the
relationship among stakeholders and serve as the foundation for next steps. This
recommendation arose from the experiences of two facilities which were completely
different in their public outreach practices. One was not proactive in involving the
community during the environmental permitting process and waited until the public
hearing to address the community and explain the intent of their facilitys operations. In
this case, the relationship between the facility and public was strained from the beginning of
the permitting process and the situation became the facility versus the public, instead of the
facility working with the public. In contrast, the other facility was proactive in involving the
community and held public information sessions prior to the public hearing to address the
communitys concerns.
2. Provide seminars to educate facility managers about public engagement: The state agency could
offer seminars designed to educate facility managers on public outreach practices prior to
the Title V permitting process. These educational seminars would provide opportunities for
facilities to develop an understanding of the concerns typically raised by communities and
discuss how to be a good neighbor based on best practices.
3. Require the permit application be accompanied by a public outreach plan: In order to maintain
the neutrality of the official Title V permitting process, yet be proactive in communicating
with stakeholders, the state agency could require the facility to include several objective
public outreach activities that support public participation. An example could include
engaging the community prior to the public hearing, via non-regulatory communication,
which would ease the environmental permitting process by providing an opportunity for
concerns to be addressed.
4. Advocate representatives from state government public health and environmental health bureaus
be present at public hearings: The concerns expressed by the public are so varied that no one
agency could address them. The inability to answer questions during public hearings led to
the communitys frustration and increased stress on the communication among the
stakeholders. Therefore, representatives from each public health and environmental health
state bureau should be represented on the public hearing panel to address a broad array of
questions and reduce the feelings of distrust.
5. Establish citizen advisory committees: This action could provide an opportunity for citizens
to voice their concerns or ask questions about the facility operations on a regular basis. One
facility manager explained that this has been a great way for the public to have direct
communication with officials about the permitting process and their concerns.
6. Establishment of a community liaison position: The community liaison position is a neutral
party who would be located in the community and have an established relationship with the
community. He/she would gather concerns and questions from the community, relay those

63
concerns and questions to the appropriate state agency and then disseminate information
back to the community. Similar to the community panel mentioned by community activists
in Claremont, NH, this action could provide an opportunity for citizens to voice their
concerns, ask questions about the facility operations on a regular basis and allow for the
community to play a role in policy and program development.
7. Be accountable for communication among stakeholders: State agency(ies) and industry need to
understand the best way to communicate with the community. To accommodate the high
number of complaints the facility was receiving, one landfill utilized web-based technology
for the public to express their concerns. However, it is important that this communication
be two-way. For example, numerous entries stated that many inquiries had been filed
online, yet the problems complained about were still in existence and the facility failed to
respond to any concerns. Therefore, as part of the routine evaluation of their communication
with the public, facilities need to establish processes to assure a timely response to the
publics comments. In addition, Claremont, NH respondents (56.6%) reported
environmental health information obtained from the television more useful compared to
Concord, NH respondents (18.5%). In addition, it is important that this communication be
two-way. Therefore, as part of the routine evaluation of their communication with the
public, state agencies and facilities need to establish processes to assure a timely response to
the publics comments. A community liaison could be proactive in this practice.
8. Increase state agency awareness: In several instances, the public contacted the EPA because
they were unaware of who to contact at state government or the facility. Increasing
awareness of the state agency as a stakeholder in the environmental permitting process
would help the public understand who to contact concerning environmental issues and
facilitate relationship-building between the state and the public. This may be accomplished
through state agency and facility-sponsored community events or attendance at existing
community events to raise awareness.
9. Use of appropriate information and meeting logistics: Information complexity as a
communication barrier for the public was evident in the public hearing audiotapes and
interviews with facility managers. For example, the public requested clarification by
NHDES ARD concerning emissions and health effects and asked what all the figures and
tables meant. Furthermore, facility managers expressed concern that the information
presented by NHDES ARD to the public was too complex, thus leading the public to contact
the facility. Taking the time to understand the communitys ecology will help state agencies
develop appropriate information that is communicated in an effective forum for that
community. Hence, this practice will be community-specific.
In addition, the room for public hearings is traditionally organized in a polarized manner
where the state agency and the facility are at one end and the community is at the other end.
This creates an us versus them perception, which can inhibit positive communication
among stakeholders. It would be optimal for the room to be organized so the stakeholders
are interspersed at a roundtable. This format allows each participant to see each other and
not feel as though any one viewpoint is valued over another.
10. Provide routine updates to stakeholders: State agency and Title V facilities should provide
concerned community members updates about progress made to address their concerns.
These updates could be communicated via a list-serve; mass mailings of a newsletter; and
updates posted to NHDES and the facilitys web page. This practice would keep the public
informed about what the state agency and facilities are doing and can dissuade distrust or
contention from developing.


64
Our recommendations provide a set of communicative structures to help advance effective
environmental communication among stakeholders when dealing with regulated industry
in different types of communities. Such practices may increase the communitys trust in
government, as well as their belief in the credibility of community health investigations and
their acceptance of the results (Charnley & Engelbert, 2005).
11. Future work
Our future work involves examining how creative partnerships, such as those between
academia and the community can further advance environmental communication strategies.
Although academic institutions are rich resources for improving the health of the public and
the environment, academic partnerships with community organizations can be challenging.
Yet, such partnerships have been shown to translate science and best practices into social
action and policy change at the local community level (Serrell et al., 2009).
12. Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the following: New Hampshire Department of Environmental
Services, Air Resources Division; facility managers from Turnkey Recycling and
Environmental Enterprises, Mt. Carberry Landfill, Four Hills Landfill, Indeck Energy
Services, Inc., Schiller Station, and Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc.; CLEAR NH and the
general public and businesses of Claremont, NH and Concord, NH for their participation in
this study. In addition, the authors thank Robert J. McGrath, Assistant Professor in the
Department of Health Management and Policy, University of New Hampshire for insightful
discussions about survey design and analysis; and Holly Tutko, Clinical Assistant Professor,
Department of Health Management and Policy, University of New Hampshire for her
critical review of this work.
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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). (2006). Health Consultation for
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Sandman, P. (1989). Hazard versus outrage in the public perception of risk. In Covello V,
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4
Regional Issues in Environmental Management
Hiroyuki Taguchi
Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance
1

Japan
1. Introduction
This chapter addresses regional issues in environment management. Economic integration
beyond national boundaries has recently made great progress in regional levels as well as in
global levels, with the formulations of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA) as typical examples. This trend in regional economic
integration also refocuses attention on regional environmental issues including trans-
boundary pollutions, and makes us rethink of what regional cooperation should be in
environment management. Based on this context, we herein discuss regional environment
issues, with a focus on East Asian region, from the following two perspectives.
The first one is about which effects, i.e. technological spillovers or pollution haven damages,
the regional latecomers have dominantly received in environment management under a
growing trend in economic integration within East Asia. If the dominance of technological
spillovers effect is identified for latecomers economies, we may have rather optimistic
views on the future of environment quality as a whole region, because it implies that
latecomers are absorbing the skills and technologies enough to leapfrog the mistakes made
by developed economies in the past times. On the other hand, the dominance of pollution
haven damages implies the mere relocation of polluters from developed economies towards
latecomers economies, i.e. no decline in pollution as a whole region, thereby making us feel
uneasy on regional prospect of environment. Thus, knowing the effects for latecomers seems
to be linked with knowing the degree of demand for policy actions as a region. East Asia, in
recent decades, has strengthened intra-economic integration in terms of trade and
investment flows.
2
At the same time, East Asian economies are still composed of a variety of
countries with different stages of development: high-income countries like Japan and Korea,
middle-income ones like Malaysia and Thailand, low-income ones such as Cambodia and
Myanmar.
3
Since the integration and diversification characterized by East Asian economies
make East Asia a typical area with provability of technology spillovers or pollution haven
damages, targeting East Asia seems to be meaningful in our analysis.
The second perspective is about what the regional framework of environmental cooperation
should be in East Asia. There have been intensive debates on the regional frameworks from

1
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and not those of the Ministry of Finance or
the Policy Research Institute.
2
Kawai (2009) indicates, for example, that the ratio of intra-regional trade relative to world trade in East
Asia has gone up from 35 percent in 1980 towards 54 percent in 2007, which is a little under 57 percent
in EU and exceeding 43 percent in NAFTA.
3
The classification of income classes depends on World Development Indicators of World Bank.


68
the viewpoints of commitment and compliance, especially in the cases of such trans-
boundary issues as long-range air and water pollutions, freshwater resources in
international rivers, migratory birds. The frameworks differ in the modality of cooperation:
policy dialogue, cooperative environmental monitoring and assessment, implementation of
project-based activities, and legal treaties and protocols. There seem to be some contrasts in
the approaches towards regional cooperation between East Asia and Europe: Non-binding
approaches in East Asia versus binding ones in Europe. The typical example is seen in the
framework of the long-ranged trans-boundary air pollution control: East Asia is promoting
non-binding agreements on pollution monitoring and other project-based activities, whereas
Europe is controlling pollution based on binding agreement in terms of the Convention for
the Long-Range Transmission of Air Pollutant in Europe (the LRTAP). Each approach
appears to have advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of the approach seems to be
linked with the region-specific properties in economical, political, and historical terms. The
purpose of this section is, thus, to investigate the reason why East Asia has taken the non-
binding approach, and to examine the justification of its choice considering the region-
specific properties.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 examines the effects for latecomers in
East Asia: technological spillovers versus pollution haven, corresponding to the first
perspective above. Section 3 discusses the regional frameworks of environmental
cooperation in East Asia, corresponding to the second perspective above.
2. Effects for latecomers: technological spillovers versus pollution haven
The purpose of this section is to examine whether the latecomers economies in East Asia
enjoy technological spillover effects or suffer pollution haven damages in their environment
management: in other words, which of latecomers advantage or latecomers disadvantage
dominates for pollution control in East Asian economies. We focus on environmental indices
with data availability: carbon dioxide emissions, consumption of ozone-depleting
substances and industrial organic water pollutant (BOD) emissions. The analytical
framework of the Environmental Kuznets curve (EK curve) is used to arrive at a conclusion.
In the following subsections, we first review previous studies on the EK curve in brief and
clarify this articles contribution (Subsection 2.1), present our own empirical study of the
effects for latecomers (Subsection 2.2), and end with brief summary (Subsection 2.3).
2.1 Previous studies and our contribution
The environmental Kuznets curve (EK curve) provides an analytical framework to examine
how economies deal with environmental issues. The EK curve postulates an inverted-U
relationship between pollution and economic development; at early stages of development,
environmental quality deteriorates with increases in per capita income, while at higher
levels of development, environmental degradation is seen to decrease with further increases
in per capita income. Kuznets's name was apparently attached to the curve by Grossman &
Krueger (1993), who noted its resemblance to Kuznets inverted-U relationship between
income inequality and development. Since the issue of the EK curve was first discussed in
the World Banks 1992 World Development Report, there have been numerous empirical
tests and theoretical debates on the EK curve. Until the mid of the 1990s, most of the
empirical studies concentrated on validating the EK curve hypothesis and its requirements,
using cross-sectional data. Some of evidences on specific pollutants supported the validity


69
of the EK curve (e.g. Grossman & Krueger; 1995, Selden & Song; 1994), while some argue
that the EK curve does not hold at all times and for all pollutants (e.g. Shafik; 1994).
Since the late 1990s, the EK curve studies have shifted from cross-sectional analyses to time-
series analyses, especially towards the analyses for comparing the EK curves of individual
economies in terms of the height and the timing of their peaks, their shapes, etc (e.g.
Panayotou; 1997, De Bruyn et al.; 1998).
4
One of the frontiers in this direction of the EK
curve studies is to put into empirical tests the two contrasting hypotheses presented by
Dasgupta et al. (2002). One is the technological spillover hypothesis that developing
societies, by utilizing progressive environmental management and the technologies of more
advanced countries, might be able to experience an EK curve that is lower and flatter than
what conventional wisdom would suggest. The other is the pollution haven hypothesis that
the relatively high environmental standards in high-income economies impose high costs on
polluters, and shareholders pressure firms to relocate to low-income countries. This
pollution haven scenario may not shift the latecomers EK curves downward; on the
contrary, it may even lift them up. Taguchi & Murofushi (2009), by using the EK curve
framework, examined whether developing countries enjoy the latecomers advantage or
suffer the latecomers disadvantage in the environment management, focusing on sulfur
emissions as local air pollutants and carbon emissions as global air pollutants, by using the
world-wide samples for the 188 economies from 1960 to 1990 in sulfur emissions and from
1970 to 2003 in carbon emissions. It found contrasting result between sulfur and carbon
emissions on the latecomers effects; sulfur emissions represent the dominance of the
latecomers advantage (the downward shift of latecomers EK curve), while carbon
emissions reveal that of the latecomers disadvantage (the upward shift of latecomers EK
curve). It interpreted this contrast as the difference of maturity level in the know-how and
technology to abate emissions: prevailing desulfurization technology and unrestricted
carbon leakage (a kind of pollution haven in carbon emissions).
This study aims at testing the two contrasting hypothesis above in East Asia, the
dominance of the latecomers advantage (technological spillovers) or of the latecomers
disadvantage (pollution haven). The main contribution is to extend the existing literature,
mainly of Taguchi (2009), to the following directions. First, our study concentrates on East
Asian economies (18 economies). The intra-area of East Asia with the characteristic of
economic integration and diversification, as stated in Introduction, can be an experimental
area suitable enough to put the hypotheses of technological spillovers and pollution haven
into empirical tests. In addition, the evidence on the latecomers effects in East Asia has been
extremely limited in the existing literature. Second, our analysis uses the latest data of the
period for 1990-2007 on carbon dioxide emissions, consumption of ozone-depleting
substances and industrial organic water pollutant (BOD) emissions. The usage of the latest
data enables us to make the EK curve estimation reflect the recent trends of technological
progress and policy responses to address environmental issues as well as growing economic
interaction of East Asia. Third, our estimation for the EK curve adopts a dynamic panel
model by a system of Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). It appears to take some
periods for the current level of emissions to adjust toward their equilibrium level a kind of
inertia in the emission level. Most of previous studies for the EK curve have adopted a static

4
Borghesi (1999) criticized the cross-sectional approach by arguing that since environmental
degradation is generally increasing in developing countries and decreasing in industrialized ones, the
EK curve within the cross-sectional framework might reflect the mere juxtaposition of two opposite
trends rather than describe the evolution of a single economy over time.


70
panel model in terms of ordinary fixed or random estimations. When there is evidence of
dynamics in the data, however, the validity of applying a static model might be questioned
as being dynamically miss-specified. To our knowledge, it is only Halkos (2003) that
constructed a dynamic panel model for the EK curve estimation. This paper adopts the
method of Halkos (2003), which allows dynamic adjustments in the level of emissions.
2.2 Empirics
We now turn to the empirical studies using the analytical framework of the EK curve. Our
analysis consists of two steps. First, we simply overview the relationships between per
capita real income and environmental indices. We then move to a dynamic panel analysis
using cross-country panel data to examine the EK curve pattern and to see whether the
latecomers advantage or its disadvantage dominates in the environmental management in
East Asian economies.
2.2.1 Data
We collect the data for three environmental indices per capita carbon dioxide emissions,
consumption of ozone-depleting substances and industrial organic water pollutant
emissions and real GDP per capita. All the data come from the Annual Core indicators
online database developed by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
5
The database covers data from 1990 to
2007, all of which we use as sample periods. The sample economies are the following 18
ones in East Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Republic of Korea,
Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.
The indicator of carbon dioxide emissions per capita that we can obtain from the online
database is defined as the quantity of estimated carbon dioxide emissions (tons of carbon
dioxide) divided by total population, whose data sources are the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals Indicators and the World Population Prospects: the 2006
Revision Population Database. The indicator of consumption of ozone-depleting
substances per capita is defined as the sum of the national annual consumption in
weighted tons of individual substances in the group of ozone-depleting substances
multiplied by their ozone-depleting potential (Ozone-depleting substances are any
substance containing chlorine or bromine that destroys the stratospheric ozone layer),
expressed as ODP kilograms per 1,000 population. Its data sources are the same as those of
carbon dioxide emissions per capita. The indicator of industrial organic water pollutant
emissions is defined as the biochemical oxygen demand, which refers to the amount of
oxygen that bacteria in water will consume in breaking down waste, expressed as kilograms
per day. Its data source is the United Nations Environment Program, Emission Database for
Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR 3.2). This indicator shows total amount, thereby
being divided by population. We can find the other emissions indicators in the online
database: nitrous oxide emissions, sulfur dioxide emissions and PM10 concentration in
urban area, but do not adopt them for the dynamic estimation later since their data cover
only every five years. For the real GDP per capita, the indicator of GDP per capita on 1990
US dollars base is obtained from the online database.

5
See the website of http://www.unescap.org/stat/data/syb2008/syb2008_web/index.asp


71
To sum up, for conducting the dynamic panel estimation later on, we constructed a panel
table of the annual data of the 18 economies from 1990 to 2007 on each of per capita
environmental indices of carbon dioxide emissions, consumption of ozone-depleting
substances and industrial organic water pollutant emissions, and on real GDP per capita.
2.2.2 Overview of the EK curves in sample economies in East Asia
Fiure 1 indicates the time-series relationships between per capita real GDP and three kinds
of environmental indices per capita in selected samples of East Asian economies. The rough

Carbon Dioxide Emissions (1990, 1995, 2000, and 2004)
0
2
4
6
8
10
100.00 1,000.00 10,000.00 100,000.00
GDP per capita: US dollar in 1990
e
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
s

p
e
r

c
a
p
i
t
a
:

t
o
n
s
Japan China Republic of Korea Malaysia Thailand Philippi nes Indonesia Viet Nam
Consumption of Ozone-depleting Substances (1990, 1995, 2000, and 2006)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
100.00 1,000.00 10,000.00 100,000.00
c
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n

p
e
r

c
a
p
i
t
a
:

g
r
a
m
s
Japan China Republic of Korea Malaysi a Thailand Philippines Indonesia Vi et Nam
Industrial Organic Water Pollutant Emissions (1990, 1995, and 2000)
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
100.00 1,000.00 10,000.00 100,000.00
e
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
s

p
e
r

c
a
p
i
t
a
:

g
r
a
m
s
Japan China Republic of Korea Malaysia Thailand Philippines Indonesia

Fig. 1. Overview of the EK curves in selected sample economies


72
findings are as follows. First, there appears to be no cases where the assembly of the
economys trajectories clearly produces inverted-U shape patterns. The trajectories of carbon
dioxide emissions represent an increasing trend whereas their slope seems to be flattened with
higher real GDP per capita. The lines of consumption of ozone-depleting substances roughly
represent declining slope. The cases of industrial organic water pollutant emissions have no
clear trend of trajectories. We might speculate that the carbon dioxide emissions stay at the
positively-sloping part of the EK curve, while the consumption of ozone-depleting substances
stays at its negatively-sloping part. Second, the locations of the economys trajectories
represent a clear contrast; the upward shifts of trajectories for latecomers economies are
observed in the case of carbon dioxide emissions, while downward shifts are seen in the cases
of consumption of ozone-depleting substances. The cases of industrial organic water pollutant
emissions have no clear shift of trajectories. The GDP-emissions relationships described above
may produce different implications among environmental indices. This point will be
statistically tested through dynamic panel estimations in the following section.
2.2.3 Dynamic panel analysis
Well now move to a dynamic panel analysis using cross-country panel data to examine the
EK curve pattern and to see whether the latecomers advantage or its disadvantage
dominates in the environmental management in East Asian economies.
2.2.3.1 Methodology
We first clarify some methodological points related to our analysis. To study the
relationship between pollution and growth, there are two possible approaches to model
construction. One is to estimate a reduced-form equation that relates the level of pollution to
the level of income. The other is to model the structural equations relating environmental
regulations, technology, and industrial composition to GDP, and then to link the level of
pollution to the regulations, technology, and industrial composition. We here take the
reduced-form approach for the following reasons. First, the reduced-form estimates give us
the net effect of a nations income on pollution. If the structural equations were to be
estimated first, one would need to solve backward to find the net effect. Moreover,
confidence in the implied estimates would depend on the precision and potential biases of
the estimates at every stage. Second, the reduced-form approach spares us from having to
collect data on pollution regulations and the state of the existent technology, which are not
always available. Thus, we think that the reduced-form relationship between pollution and
income is an important first step.
We then specify the reduced-form equation by basically following the traditions of the
literatures like Grossman and Krueger (1995) and Selden and Son (1994), and adding
appropriate variables in accordance with our analytical interests. Our specific concern
regarding the EK curve for the sample economies in East Asia is to see whether the EK-
curve trajectories for the latecomers economies have shifted downward or upward,
depending on the dominance of either the latecomers advantage or its disadvantage
6
; in

6
As Dasgupta et al. (2002) showed the revised EK curve that is actually dropping and shifting to the left
as growth generates less pollution in the early stages of industrialization and pollution begins falling at
lower income levels, the latecomers effects may not always be tantamount to a simple up- and
downward shifts of the EK curve. However, we here simplify the analysis by focusing on up- and
downward shift of the EK curve.


73
other words, the levels of environmental pollution per capita have been affected not only by
the level of per capita income following the EK curve, but also by the later degree of
development among the economies. If a sample economy with later degree of development
among the samples enjoys the lower level of environmental pollution (traces the downward
course of the EK curve), we speculate that the economy, not repeating the EK-curve
trajectories already experienced by the developed economies, should enjoy the latecomers
advantage by absorbing the progress in environmental know-how, skills, and technology i.e.
technological spillover. On the contrary, if the later development in a sample economy is
linked with higher pollution, the economy may suffer from the latecomers disadvantage
caused by the pollution haven scenario (see Figure 2). Therefore, we will include a term
representing the later degree of development among the economies into the equation for the
EK curve. The later degree of development of a sample economy in a certain year is
specified as the ratio of the GDP per capita of that economy relative to the maximum GDP
per capita among sample economies (equivalent to the GDP per capita of Japan) in that year.
Another methodological innovation in this study is to adopt a dynamic panel model. Halkos
(2003), pointing out that a static model is justified either if adjustment processes are really
very fast or if the static equation represents an equilibrium relationship, argued that since
the assumption that the data are stationary is incorrect, and we are not expecting a very fast
adjustment for estimating the EK curve, a statistically sound approach requires estimating a
dynamic model. Following the argument of Halkos (2003), we construct a dynamic panel
model by inserting a lagged dependent variable as a regressor into the EK curve equation
for materializing a partial adjustment toward equilibrium emissions level.

Per Capita Emissions
Latecomer's Economy + Higher Pollution
= Latecomer's Disadvantage (Pollution Haven)
Upward Shift
Higher Income Economies
Downward Shift
Latecomer's Economy + Lower Pollution
= Latecomer's Advantage (Technological Spillover)
Real GDP Per Capita

Fig. 2. Latecomers advantage and disadvantage in the EK curves
Based on analytical interests mentioned above, we specify the modified EK curve model as
follows:

2
it 0 1 it 2 it 3 it 4 it 1 5 i it
EMS GDP GDP LAC EMS f e
(1)


74
where i is the economys index (country), t is the time index, and e is the error term. The
dependent variables EMS is measure of the per capita emissions: carbon dioxide emissions
(CDE), consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and industrial organic water
pollutant emissions (BOD). As for the independent variables, GDP is the real GDP per
capita. LAC represents the later degree of development, specifically the ratio of the real GDP
per capita of a certain economy relative to the maximum real GDP per capita among
economies in a certain year (i.e. real GDP per capita of Japan) the lower LAC means the
later development of the economy. The f
i
denotes exogenously economy-specific factors that
affect emissions; climate, geography, energy resources, etc. The equation does not include
period dummy, because its inclusion was rejected significantly by statistical tests in the
equation estimate.
To verify the inverted-U shapes of the EK curves, the signs and magnitudes of
1
and
2

should be examined. Environmental emissions per capita can be said to exhibit a meaningful
EK curve with the real GDP per capita, if
1
>0 and
2
<0, and if the turning point,
1
/2
2
is
a reasonabe number. Of particular importance is the coefficient of LAC,
3
, which is useful
for identifying the dominance of the latecomers advantage or its disadvantage. The positive
sign of
3
, the lower pollution with the later development of the economy that creates the
downward shift of the latecomers trajectories, indicates that the latecomers advantage
surpasses its disadvantage. On the other hand, the negative sign of
3
, the higher pollution
with the later development of the economy equivalent to the upward shift of the latecomers
curve, reveals the dominance of the latecomers disadvantage.
Equation (1) contains the lagged dependent variable among the explanatory variables,
thereby the ordinary OLS estimator being inconsistent. Obtaining consistent estimates
requires the application of an instrumental variables estimator or Generalized Method of
Moments (GMM). We here adopt the system GMM estimator developed by Arellano and
Bond (1991) who argues that additional instruments can be obtained in a dynamic model
from panel data if we utilize the orthogonality conditions between lagged values of the
dependent and the disturbances. The GMM estimator eliminates country effects by first-
differencing as well as controls for possible endogeneity of explanatory variables. The first-
differenced endogenous variables of EMS with two lagged periods can be valid instruments
provided there is no second-order autocorrelation in the idiosyncratic error terms. We also
use the first differenced explanatory variables of GDP with one lagged period as an
instrumental variable since GDP can possibly be correlated with the error term in case that
environmental pollution might aggravates economic growth. We then conduct two step
GMM iterations with updating weights once, and adopt White period as GMM weighting
matrix. We present the tests for autocorrelations and the Sargan test of over-identifying
restrictions in the table that follow.
2.2.3.2 Estimation results and interpretations
Table 1 lists the results of the GMM estimation per capita on carbon dioxide emissions
(CDE), consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and industrial organic water
pollutant emissions (BOD). All the cases indicate that the inclusion of the lagged dependent
variable of the emissions per capita proved to be positively discernable, thus imply inertia in
the level of the emissions and justify forming the dynamic panel model. The Sargan tests do
not suggest rejection of the instrumental validity at conventional levels for any cases
estimated. As for the test results for autocorrelations, all the AR(2) test statistics reveal
absence of second-order serial correlation in the first-differenced errors and thus that the
instruments are valid.


75
We first verify the shape of the EK curve of each emission index. There are no cases that
reveal the meaningful EK curve with the inverted-U shape. The linear CDE estimation
indicates upward sloping with real GDP per capita at significant level. The quadratic CDE
estimation has the significant coefficients,
1
and
2
with correct signs of the inverted-U
shape. Its turning point of 26,800 US dollars is, however, falling into the edge of the samples,
i.e. only within the sample of Japan with the highest real GDP per capita. Almost all of the
trajectories are within the monotonic increasing trend, i.e. the positively-sloping part of the
EK curve. The ODS estimation indicates that the trajectories are in the monotonic decreasing
trend regardless of the linear or quadratic equation forms. Although the quadratic
estimations coefficients,
1
and
2
, suggest not inverted-U but U shape, the turning point of
116,000 US dollars is far higher from the range of the samples. The BOD represents only
monotonic downward sloping in its estimation, since the coefficient of the square of GDP,
2
, is insignificant. We speculate that it is due to the shortage of sample data backward from
1990 that the ODS and BOD do not prove to form the inverted-U shape curve in their
estimation.
We next see if the latecomers EK trajectories show a downward shift or an upward shift,
namely whether the latecomers advantage or its disadvantage dominate in the
environmental management of latecomers economies. The CDE estimate has significantly
negative
3
, coefficient of LAC, thereby representing the upward shift of the latecomers
trajectories and the dominance of the latecomers disadvantage. On the other hand, the ODS
and BOD estimates have significantly positive
3
, showing the downward shift of the
latecomers trajectories, the dominance of the latecomers advantage.

GDP 4.43*10
-4
*** 2.57*10
-3
*** -2.33*10
-2
*** -2.98*10
-2
*** -1.38*10
-4
*** -3.41*10
-4
**
(978.87) (33.96) (-68204.89) (-6078.09) (-6.97) (-2.25)
GDP
2
-4.78*10
-8
*** 1.28*10
-7
*** 3.53*10
-9
(-21.42) (1150.38) (1.25)
LAC -2.21*10 *** -5.18*10

*** 1.56*10
2
*** 2.39*10
2
*** 1.22

* 4.61

**
(-2980.99) (-291.37) (14700.19) (3125.34) (1.72) (2.12)
(EMS)
t-1 4.96*10
-1
*** 4.53*10
-1
*** 5.66*10
-1
*** 5.65*10
-1
*** 6.11*10
-1
*** 5.76*10
-1
***
(11958.02) (106.46) (517030.9) (171680.4) (19.48) (10.00)
Tuning Point 2.68*10
4
1.16*10
5
4.83*10
4
Sargan test 0.60 0.85 0.71 0.75 0.88 0.91
AR(1) 0.00 0.01 0.07 0.07 0.01 0.01
AR(2) 0.21 0.24 0.74 0.75 0.86 0.81
No. of obs. 222 222 192 192 93 93
(Notes)
i) The t-value are in parentheses. ***, **, and * indicate rejection at the 1 percent, 5 percent, and 10 percent
significance levels.
ii) "Sargan test" denotes the p-value of a Sargan-Hansen test of overidentifying restrictions.
iii) AR(k) is the p-value of a test that the average autocovariance in residuals of order k is zero.
CDE ODS BOD

Table 1. Results of dynamic panel estimation by GMM


76
There seem to be some contrasts of estimation results in terms of both the trajectorys shape
and location between CDE and the other indices of ODS and BOD. These contrasts appear to
be interpreted as follows. The first contrast is concerned with the shape of the EK
trajectories. The ODS and BOD mainly come from manufacturing production activities,
thereby being subject to regulation due to their localized impact. In fact, the pollution
controls on the ODS and BOD have intensively been promoted by East Asian countries. The
ozone-depleting substances have been strictly regulated since the 1987s signature of the
Montreal Protocol, i.e. an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing
out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.
All of East Asian countries have had a commitment to the treaty or its amendments in terms
of ratification, accession or acceptance. The issues of water pollution as well as air pollution
have also been addressed with technological progress over a broad area of East Asia since
the 1970-80s, when ASEAN countries formulated comprehensive environmental protection
laws (the Philippines in 1977, Malaysia in 1974, Thailand in 1975, and Indonesia in 1982).
These factual backgrounds seem to make the EK trajectories of ODS and BOD slope
downward i.e. create downward sloping part of the inverted-U shaped EK curve. On the
other hands, the CDE is producing an opposite pattern of its trajectories, a positively-
sloping part of the EK curve. It seems to be because carbon dioxide emissions arise from not
only production but also from consumption such as automobile use and the burning of
fossil fuels for the generation of electricity, thereby being easily externalized and thus not
subject to regulation. The reality is that it is only after the Kyoto Protocol was approved in
1997 that regulatory frameworks on Greenhouse Gas have come to be set about domestically
and internationally. The contrasting outcomes on the shape of the EK trajectories in this
study appear to be consistent with those of previous works, which Nahman & Antrobus
(2005) summarize by stating that the levels of the pollutants with local impacts fall with per
capita income whilst the levels of easily externalized pollutants continue to rise with per
capita income.
The second contrast downward shift of the latecomers trajectories on the ODS and BOD
versus upward shift on the CDE can be explained by the degree of maturity in the know-
how and technology to abate those emissions in East Asia. More or less, the concentration of
manufacturing industrial activities have tended to shift from advanced economies to
developing economies since wealthy consumers in advanced economies demand a cleaner
environment and stringent environmental regulations. Thus, the pollution haven effects can
not help being avoided for latecomers economies. The question is, then, whether the
technological spillover effects overcome the pollution haven effects for latecomers
economies i.e. the dominance of latecomers advantage or disadvantage. The cases with
downward shift of the latecomers trajectories on ODS and BOD can be interpreted in such a
way that the policy efforts, know-how and technology to abate those emissions are mature
and feasible enough to be transferred to latecomers economies and to exceed their suffering
pollution haven effects in the area of East Asia. Especially, as Kofi Annan, the Former
Secretary General of the United Nations, stated perhaps the single most successful
international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol,
7
the widespread adoption
and implementation of the international framework to protect the ozone layer seems to be
effective enough for developing economies in East Asia to enjoy the latecomers advantage.
On the contrary, the case with upward shift of the latecomers trajectories on CDE may be

7
See the website: http://www.theozonehole.com/montreal.htm
.


77
explained in such a way that the regulatory framework and technology to mitigate the
emissions coming from both production and consumption are too immature to be
transferred and disseminated to latecomers economies (Yaguchi et al. 2007). Thus, only the
pollution haven effect seems to remain for latecomers economies. This phenomenon on
carbon dioxide emissions might be regarded as what we call carbon leakage in the context
of the Greenhouse Gas reduction at global level: the effect that there is an increase in carbon
emissions in one country as a result of an emission reduction by a second country with a
strict climate policy.
2.3 Summary
In this section, we set out to examine, using the analytical framework of the environmental
Kuznets curve, whether the latecomers economies in East Asia enjoy technological spillover
effects or suffer pollution haven damages in their environmental pollution management, in
other words, which of latecomers advantage or latecomers disadvantage for pollution
control dominates in East Asian economies. For this purpose, we carried out dynamic panel
estimation by a system of Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), using the panel data
with 18 economies for the period from 1990 to 2007 on environmental indices of carbon
dioxide emissions, consumption of ozone-depleting substances and industrial organic water
pollutant emissions.
Through this analysis, we found two contrasting results among the environmental indices:
1) per capita consumption of ozone-depleting substances and industrial organic water
pollutant emissions indicate monotonic decreasing trends with per capita real GDP while
per capita carbon dioxide emissions show monotonic increasing trend, and 2) consumption
of ozone-depleting substances and industrial organic water pollutant emissions represent
the dominance of the latecomers advantage while carbon dioxide emissions reveal that of
the latecomers disadvantage. We speculate that the contrast in the trends comes from the
difference in the origin of emissions: consumption of ozone-depleting substances and
industrial organic water pollutant emissions come mainly from production (easily regulated
on the local level), and carbon dioxide emissions come from both production and
consumption (easily externalized and not easily subject to regulation). We also presume that
the contrast in the latecomers effects lies in the degree of maturity in regulatory framework
and technology that offset pollution haven effect: good governance for controlling ozone-
depleting substances and water pollutants, versus unrestricted carbon leakage for
latecomers economies.
The result implying carbon leakage, suggests the urgent necessity to facilitate the
technological progress such as the development of technology on carbon dioxide capture
and storage, and the internalization of external diseconomy through such methods as
emissions charge and greenhouse taxes. For latecomers economies in East Asia, which
appear to face a trade-off between environmental quality and productive activities and to
strengthen regional economic integration, it can be expected that the spillover effects from
technological progress and the consolidated regulatory framework should overcome
carbon leakage.
3. Regional framework of environmental cooperation
In the previous section, we argued that the technological spillovers, offsetting the pollution
haven damages, take an important role in environment management, especially in East Asia
with the characteristic of economic integration and diversification. The significance of the


78
technological spillovers reminds us of the necessities of international cooperation in
environment management in terms of regional framework as well as global and bilateral
ones. The regional framework of environmental cooperation is, at the same time, crucial in
addressing trans-boundary pollutions in specific regions air and water. This section
discusses the regional framework of environment cooperation, with a focus on the non-
binding approach taken by East Asia. In the following subsections, we first review major
trans-boundary environmental issues in East Asia (Subsection 3.1), represent the regional
frameworks to address the trans-boundary issues (Subsection 3.2), and finally discuss the
background and justification of the non-binding approach characterized by East Asia.
3.1 Trans-boundary issues in East Asia
We herein pick up major trans-boundary environmental issues in East Asia: acid deposition,
marine pollution, haze pollution, and sand and dust storms.
3.1.1 Acid deposition
8

Acid deposition originates from such pollutants as sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides
(NOx), generated mainly by combustion of fossil fuels. Acid deposition appears in various
forms of precipitation, such as rain, fog, mist, snow, etc. Its impacts are: affecting fishes due
to the acidification of inland waters, threatening forests due to soil acidification, accelerating
the decay of cultural monuments, and so forth. Since the substances causing acid deposition
are transported over long distance, its influence diffuses to not only inside of the country
but also to outside of the country. In East Asia, the rapid growth, accompanying the
increasing energy consumption, has threatened to aggravate acid deposition since the 1990s.
Some researches show that the trans-boundary acid rain in Northeast Asia is linked
primarily to Chinas coal consumption which accounts for two thirds of the countrys
primary energy source (Yoon; 2007).
Addressing the trans-boundary acid deposition in East Asia, was motivated by the Agenda
21 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992,
"the programs (in Europe and North America) need to be continued and enhanced, and
their experience needs to be shared with other regions of the world". Since 2001, the Acid
Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET) under 13 countries participation has
been running as a regional cooperative initiative for monitoring acid deposition. As a
related cooperative framework, the Northeast Asian Sub-regional Programme of
Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) is promoting the several projects for mitigation of
trans-boundary air pollution from coal-fired power plants in North-east Asia.
3.1.2 Marine pollution
9

The Northwest Pacific sea region is specifically composed of the Yellow Sea, surrounded by
China and the two Koreas, and the Sea of Japan/the East Sea, encircled by Japan, the two
Koreas, and Russia. The region features coastal and island ecosystems with spectacular
marine life and commercially important fishing resources. The region has, however, been
getting enormous pressures and demands on its environment through coastal area

8
Most of the description is based on
http://www.env.go.jp/en/earth, http://www.eanet.cc/index.html, and http://www.neaspec.org.
9
Most of the description is based on http://www.nowpap.org/index.php.


79
development, river pollution flowing into the seas, and marine dumping. Marine
contamination occurs also by such accidents as heavy oil spills from troubled tankers, e.g.
the "Oil disaster of Nakhodka Accidents in Japanese coastal sea by the Sea of Japan (the
East Sea) in 1997.
As a regional framework for monitoring and assessing marine pollution, the Action Plan for
the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of
the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP) was adopted in September 1994 as a part of the
Regional Seas Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The
participants of this plan are the countries bordering the sea region: China, Japan, Korea, and
Russia (North Korea still reserves the option to become a regular member).
3.1.3 Haze pollution
10

Haze is an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the
clarity of the sky. In the 1990s, haze pollution spreading across national boundaries was
getting obvious in Southeast Asia. It originated from widespread land clearance through
open forest burning, with the most well-known hotspots being in Sumatra, Borneo and the
Malay Peninsula. Most of the smoke came from oil palm plantations which used burning
instead of heavy equipment to clear land. The year 1997 was particularly noted for the
raging forest fires in Indonesia which produced a pall of small particle pollution over the
region for several weeks. Due to the prevalent monsoon winds, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand and Brunei were seriously suffering from haze pollution.
In light of the haze disaster, environmental ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) agreed on the Regional Haze Action Plan (RHAP) in 1997. As a further
step, the ASEAN reached a legal agreement in 2002, which entered into force for the
ratifying countries in 2003. The agreement contains provisions for monitoring, assessment
and prevention, technical cooperation, scientific research, mechanisms for coordination and
lines of communication, etc. for addressing trans-boundary haze pollution. Due to
Indonesias current decision not to ratify and implement the agreement, however, the
provisions of the agreement are not legally binding for the country which is perceived as
being by far the greatest contributor to haze in Southeast Asia.
3.1.4 Sand and dust storms
11

The dust and sand storms (DSS) is a phenomenon of wind carrying dust, which originate in
the arid and semi-arid regions of northern China and Mongolia, and arrive at Japan and
Korea across national boundaries in the spring due to the regions prevailing seasonal
winds. DSS has recently been worsening in terms of their frequency and intensity because of
Chinas rapid desertification, soil degradation, and forest reduction. It causes problems in
human health (e.g., sore eyes and respiratory infections), agricultural products, dust-
sensitive industries (such as semi-conductor manufacturing), and transportation.
The Tripartite Environmental Ministers Meeting (TEMM) among China, Japan, and Korea,
in its forth meeting in 2002, sharing their concern about the DSS problem, agreed to
strengthen monitoring capacity to combat sandstorms, and stressed the importance of

10
Most of the description is based on UNEP (2010).
11
Most of the description is based on http://www.env.go.jp/en/earth/dss/pamph/02.html,
http://www.env.go.jp/earth/coop/temm/introduction_j.html, and http://www.neaspec.org.


80
extensive engagement of national environmental administrations in the region and
international organizations in the efforts to cope with the DSS challenges. In 2003, the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) launched the joint projects including those of improving
monitoring and developing early warning network systems for DSS, in collaboration with
the UNEP, the ADB, the UNESCAP, the United Nation Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD), and four countries (China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia). The
NEASPEC is also promoting a demonstration project focusing on the prevention of dust and
sandstorms at source areas in China and Mongolia.
3.2 Modalities of regional frameworks in East Asia
The fore-mentioned trans-boundary environmental issues in East Asia have urged the
countries in the region to make efforts to promote regional cooperation to address these
issues. In this subsection, we pick up regional frameworks focusing on those for coping with
trans-boundary environmental issues in East Asia, and examine their modalities in
comparison with that in Europe.
When we see the ongoing cases of regional frameworks for environmental cooperation in
the world, we can find a variety of their modalities (e.g. IGES; 2001, Takahashi; 2003). We
herein attempt to classify the modalities from the viewpoint of the consolidation of regional
governance for cooperation as follows: a) Policy dialogue for sharing views and information
on common environmental issues, b) Monitoring and assessment on trans-boundary
environmental pollution by common methodologies, c) Project-based joint activities for
mitigating pollution by utilizing permanent financial resources, d) Treaty and protocol for
imposing common regulations on trans-boundary environmental pollution.
Table 2 reports the existing regional frameworks for environmental cooperation to address
trans-boundary environmental issues. If we simply follow the modality classification above,
the TEMM is classified into a)-type (policy dialogue); the EANET and the NOWPAP into b)-
type (monitoring and assessment); the NEASPEC into c)-type (project-based joint activities);
the ASEAN Agreement on Trans-boundary Haze Pollution into d)-type (treaty and
protocol). It should be noted that the ASEAN Agreement on Trans-boundary Haze Pollution
has problem in its implementation because of the lack of enforcement and liability clauses in
the agreement in addition to Indonesias current decision not to ratify and implement the
agreement as mentioned above (UNEP; 2010).
Europe, though having various modalities in regional frameworks for environmental
cooperation, appears to depend more on legal frameworks backed by the EU organization
than East Asia does. Some clear contrasts can be seen in the framework to address trans-
boundary acid deposition and marine pollution. The acid deposition problem first came to
trans-boundary attention in Europe in the 1970s. In the first place, the OECD responded to a
request from Scandinavian countries to inaugurate a multilateral monitoring program of
acid rain in 1972. And it was taken over by the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe in 1977. Subsequently, the Convention for the Long-Range Transmission of Air
Pollutant in Europe (the LRTAP) was agreed upon in 1979, and the protocols on 30%
reduction of sulfur emission and on NOx emission control were adopted in the 1980s. For
trans-boundary marine pollution, for instance, the Convention for the Protection of the
Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution (the Barcelona Convention) was concluded in 1975,
followed by the protocols on marine dumping, emergency oil pollution, land based
pollution source, and so forth in 1975 and 1980. These conventions and protocols are
definitely classified into d)-type in the classification above, whereas East Asian frameworks


81
for trans-boundary acid deposition and marine pollution mainly fall into a), b), or c)-type of
modalities.

Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET)
Staring year: 2001
Area: East Asia: 13 countries
Issues: Acid Deposition
Secretariat: UNEP
Modality: Joint monitoring and assessment
Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP)
Staring year: 1994
Area: Northeast Asia: China, Japan, Korea (South), and Russia
Issues: Marine Pollution
Secretariat: UNEP
Modality: Joint monitoring and assessment
ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution
Staring year: 2002
Area: ASEAN
Issues: Haze Pollution
Secretariat: ASEAN
Modality: Legal agreement
Tripartite Environmental Ministers Meeting (TEMM)
Staring year: 1999
Area: China, Japan, and South Korea
Issues: Comprehensive
Secretariat: Rotation
Modality: Policy dialogue
North-east Asian Subregional Programme of Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC)
Staring year: 1993
Area: Northeast Asia: China, Japan, Korea (North), Korea (South), Mongolia, and Russia
Issues: Comprehensive
Secretariat: UN/ESCAP (Interim)
Modality: Project-based activities

Table 2. Regional frameworks for environmental cooperation
3.3 Discussion on non-binding approach in East Asia
The modality of regional frameworks for environmental cooperation has recently been
discussed in terms of binding and non-binding approaches (e.g. Yoon; 2007, Kppel; 2009).
Yoon (2007) argued that the environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia has evolved
through non-binding agreements which do not contain official commitments on compliance
or legal restrictions for non-compliance, whereas that in Europe has followed binding
agreements by concluding with conventions and working through a series of protocols for
solid compliance. This view is consistent with our comparative analysis on the modalities
for environmental cooperation between in East Asia and Europe in the previous section.
Then, why East Asia has taken the non-binding approach for environmental cooperation is
the question in this section.
Kppel (2009) explained theoretically the advantages of both binding and nonbinding
agreements as follows. A nonbinding agreement is easier and faster to achieve, allows states
to tackle a problem collectively at a time they otherwise might not due to economic or


82
political reasons, and enables governments to formulate their commitments in a more
precise and ambitious form than they would be possible in a binding treaty. Seeking deeper
cooperation like a smaller club of like-minded enthusiasts, and facilitating learning
processes or learning by doing, can be further benefits of nonbinding agreements. On the
other hand, binding agreements strengthen the credibility of a commitment, increase
compliance with the commitment, and reduce intergovernmental transaction costs.
Considering this theoretical viewpoint, we can interpret East Asian choice of non-binding
approach in such a way that East Asia is getting or trying to get the non-binding advantages
whereas facing the difficulties for getting the binding advantages. In fact, the progress in the
trans-boundary on-going projects under the frameworks of EANET, NOWPAP, NEASPEC,
etc., appears to be reflecting East Asian stances to pursue the easier, faster and deeper
advantages of non-binding approach. On the other hand, the difficulties for binding
approach in East Asia seem to come from the following economical, political and historical
backgrounds. First, a lack of economic and political homogeneity is making it difficult for
East Asia to reach binding agreements. As mentioned in Introduction, East Asian countries
are composed of a variety of countries with different stages of development and with
different political system. In addition, there is no regional organizations equivalent to the
EU in East Asia except for ASEAN. The typical contrast can be shown in the LRTAP
Convention, which was created by homogenous advanced European nations and has well
been maintained by strong links to EU policies and aid programs. Second, the
environmental cooperation in East Asian region is too immature to lead to legal agreements.
It was only after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 that East Asian countries initiated
environmental cooperation as an official diplomatic issue as shown in Table 2. We can also
see a contrast in monitoring trans-boundary acid deposition: East Asian started its system in
2001 as the EANET, while Europe inaugurated it about thirty years earlier, in 1972. Finally,
more importantly, political sentiments among East Asian nations are placing obstacles on
the road toward binding agreements (see Yoon; 2007). The historical experiences of World
War Two are making East Asian nations suspicious of Japanese initiatives on regional
affairs. And China tends to prefer bilateral cooperation to supranational institutions,
because bilateral negotiations do not place the country in the diplomatically unfavourable
situation of being the main source of regional, trans-boundary pollution. The bilateral
environmental cooperation promoted by Japan through official development assistant
(ODA) may also have attenuated the need for binding agreements at multilateral level.
To sum up, considering the region-specific properties in economical, political, and historical
terms, non-binding approach as regional framework of environmental cooperation may be
an optimal choice for East Asia, in the sense that it provides the easier, faster and
deeper framework regardless of economical, political, and historical constraints.
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5
Geo-environmental Terrain Assessments
Based on Remote Sensing Tools: A Review of
Applications to Hazard Mapping and Control
Paulo Cesar Fernandes
1
da Silva and John Canning Cripps
2

1
Geological Institute - So Paulo State Secretariat of Environment,

2
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering,
University of Sheffield,
1
Brazil
2
United Kingdom
1. Introduction
The responses of public authorities to natural or induced geological hazards, such as land
instability and flooding, vary according to different factors including frequency of
occurrence, severity of damage, magnitude of hazardous processes, awareness,
predictability, political willingness and availability of financial and technological resources.
The responses will also depend upon whether the hazard is 1) known to be already present
thus giving rise to risk situations involving people and/or economic loss; or 2) there is a
latent or potential hazard that is not yet present so that development and land uses need to
be controlled in order to avoid creating risk situations. In this regard, geo-environmental
management can take the form of either planning responses and mid- to long-term public
policy based territorial zoning tools, or immediate interventions that may involve a number
of approaches including preventative and mitigation works, civil defence actions such as
hazard warnings, community preparedness, and implementation of contingency and
emergency programmes.
In most of cases, regional- and local-scale terrain assessments and classification
accompanied by susceptibility and/or hazard maps delineating potential problem areas will
be used as practical instruments in efforts to tackle problems and their consequences. In
terms of planning, such assessments usually provide advice about the types of development
that would be acceptable in certain areas but should be precluded in others. Standards for
new construction and the upgrading of existing buildings may also be implemented
through legally enforceable building codes based on the risks associated with the particular
terrain assessment or classification.
The response of public authorities also varies depending upon the information available to
make decisions. In some areas sufficient geological information and knowledge about the
causes of a hazard may be available to enable an area likely to be susceptible to hazardous
processes to be predicted with reasonable certainty. In other places a lack of suitable data
may result in considerable uncertainty.

Environmental Management in Practice 86
In this chapter, a number of case studies are presented to demonstrate the methodological as
well as the predictive and preventative aspects of geo-environmental management, with a
particular view to regional- and semi-detailed scale, satellite image based terrain
classification. If available, information on the geology, geomorphology, covering material
characteristics and land uses may be used with remotely sensed data to enhance these
terrain classification outputs. In addition, examples provided in this chapter demonstrate
the identification and delineation of zones or terrain units in terms of the likelihood and
consequences of land instability and flooding hazards in different situations. Further
applications of these methods include the ranking of abandoned and/or derelict mined sites
and other despoiled areas in support of land reclamation and socio-economic regeneration
policies.
The discussion extends into policy formulation, implementation of environmental
management strategies and enforcement regulations.
2. Use of remote densing tools for terrain assessments and territorial zoning
Engineering and geo-environmental terrain assessments began to play an important role in
the planning process as a consequence of changing demands for larger urban areas and
related infra-structure, especially housing, industrial development and the services network.
In this regard, the inadequacy of conventional agriculturally-orientated land mapping
methods prompted the development of terrain classification systems completely based on
the properties and characteristics of the land that provide data useful to engineers and
urban planners. Such schemes were then adopted and widely used to provide territorial
zoning for general and specific purposes.
The process of dividing a country or region into area parcels or zones, is generally called
land or terrain classification. Such a scheme is illustrated in Table 1. The zones should
possess a certain homogeneity of characteristics, properties, and in some cases, conditions
and expected behaviour in response to human activities. What is meant by homogeneous
will depend on the purpose of the exercise, but generally each zone will contain a mixture of
environmental elements such as rocks, soils, relief, vegetation, and other features. The
feasibility and practicability of delineating land areas with similar attributes have been
demonstrated throughout the world over a long period of time (e.g. Bowman, 1911; Bourne,
1931; Christian, 1958; Mabbutt, 1968; amongst others), and encompass a wide range of
specialisms such as earth, biological and agricultural sciences; hydrology and water
resources management; military activities; urban and rural planning; civil engineering;
nature and wildlife conservation; and even archaeology.
According to Cendrero et al. (1979) and Bennett and Doyle (1997), there are two main
approaches to geo-environmental terrain assessments and territorial zoning, as follows. 1)
The analytical or parametric approach deals with environmental features or components
individually. The terrain units usually result from the intersection or cartographic
summation of several layers of information [thus expressing the probability limits of
findings] and their extent may not corresponding directly with ground features. Examples
of the parametric approach for urban planning, hazard mapping and engineering purposes
are given by Kiefer (1967), Porcher & Guillope (1979), Alonso Herrero et al. (1990), and Dai
et al. (2001). 2) In the synthetic approach, also termed integrated, landscape or
physiographic approach, the form and spatial distribution of ground features are analysed
in an integrated manner relating recurrent landscape patterns expressed by an interaction of
Geo-environmental Terrain Assessments Based on Remote
Sensing Tools: A Review of Applications to Hazard Mapping and Control 87
Terrain unit Definition Soil unit Vegetation
unit
Mapping scale
(approx.)
Remote sensing
platform
Land zone Major climatic region Order - < 1:50,000,000
Land division Gross continental
structure
Suborder Plant
panformation
Ecological
zone
1:20,000,000
to
1:50,000,000
Meteorological
satellites
Land province Second-order structure
or large lithological
association
Great group - 1:20,000,000
to
1:50,000,000

Land region Lithological unit or
association having
undergone comparable
geomorphic evolution
Subgroup Sub-province 1:1,000,000
to
1:5,000,000
Landsat
SPOT
ERS
Land system * Recurrent pattern of
genetically linked land
facets
Family Ecological
region
1: 200,000
to
1:1,000,000
Landsat
SPOT, ERS, and
small scale
aerial
photographs

Land catena Major repetitive
component of a land
system
Association Ecological
sector
1:80,000
to
1:200,000
Land facet Reasonably
homogeneous tract of
landscape distinct from
surrounding areas and
containing a practical
grouping of land
elements
Series Sub-
formation;
Ecological
station
1:10,000
to
1: 80,000
Medium scale
aerial
photographs,
Landsat, and
SPOT in some
cases
Land clump A patterned repetition of
two or more land
elements too contrasting
to be a land facet
Complex Sub-
formation;
Ecological
station
1:10,000
to
1: 80,000
Land subfacet Constituent part of a
land facet where the
main formative processes
give material or form
subdivisions
Type - Not mapped

Large-scale
aerial
photographs
Land element Simplest homogeneous
part of the landscape,
indivisible in form
Pedon Ecological
station
element

Table 1. Hierarchical classification of terrain, soil and ecological units [after Mitchell, 1991]

environmental components thus allowing the partitioning of the land into units. Since the
advent of airborne and orbital sensors, the integrated analysis is based in the first instance,
on the interpretation of remotely sensed images and/or aerial photography. In most cases,
the content and spatial boundaries of terrain units would directly correspond with ground
features. Assumptions that units possessing similar recurrent landscape patterns may be
expected to be similar in character are required for valid predictions to be made by
extrapolation from known areas. Thus, terrain classification schemes offer rational means
of correlating known and unknown areas so that the ground conditions and potential uses

of unknown areas can be reasonably predicted (Finlayson, 1984; Bell, 1993). Examples of the
applications of the landscape or physiographic approach include ones given by Christian &
Stewart (1952, 1968), Vinogradov et al. (1962), Beckett & Webster (1969); Meijerink (1988),
and Miliaresis (2001).
Griffiths and Edwards (2001) refer to Land Surface Evaluation as a procedure of providing
data relevant to the assessment of the sites of proposed engineering work. The sources of
data include remotely sensed data and data acquired by the mapping of geomorphological
features. Although originally viewed as a process usually undertaken at the reconnaissance
or feasibility stages of projects, the authors point out its utility at the constructional and
post-construction stages of certain projects and also that it is commonly applied during the
planning of engineering development. They also explain that although more reliance on this
methodology for deriving the conceptual or predictive ground model on which engineering
design and construction are based, was anticipated in the early 1980s, in fact the use of the
methods has been more limited.
Geo-environmental terrain assessments and territorial zoning generally involve three main
stages (IG/SMA 2003; Fernandes da Silva et al. 2005b, 2010): 1) delimitation of terrain units;
2) characterisation of units (e.g. in bio-geographical, engineering geological or geotechnical
terms); and 3) evaluation and classification of units. The delimitation stage consists of
dividing the territory into zones according to a set of pre-determined physical and
environmental characteristics and properties. Regions, zones or units are regarded as
distinguishable entities depending upon their internal homogeneity or the internal
interrelationships of their parts. The characterisation stage consists of attributing
appropriate properties and characteristics to terrain components. Such properties and
characterisitics are designed to reflect the ground conditions relevant to the particular
application. The characterisation of the units can be achieved either directly or indirectly,
for instance by means of: (a) ground observations and measurements, including in-situ tests
(e.g. boring, sampling, infiltration tests etc); (b) laboratory tests (e.g. grain size, strength,
porosity, permeability etc); (c) inferences derived from existing correlations between
relevant parameters and other data such as those obtained from previous mapping, remote
sensing, geophysical surveys and geochemical records. The final stage (evaluation and
classification) consists of evaluating and classifying the terrain units in a manner relevant to
the purposes of the particular application (e.g. regional planning, transportation, hazard
mapping). This is based on the analysis and interpretation of properties and characteristics
of terrain - identified as relevant - and their potential effects in terms of ground behaviour,
particularly in response to human activities.
A key issue to be considered is sourcing suitable data on which to base the characterisation,
as in many cases derivation by standard mapping techniques may not be feasible. The large
size of areas and lack of accessibility, in particular, may pose major technical, operational,
and economic constraints. Furthermore, as indicated by Nedovic-Budic (2000), data
collection and integration into useful databases are liable to be costly and time-consuming
operations. Such problems are particularly prevalent in developing countries in which
suitably trained staff, and scarce organizational resources can inhibit public authorities from
properly benefiting from geo-environmental terrain assessment outputs in planning and
environmental management instruments. In this regard, consideration has been given to
increased reliance on remote sensing tools, particularly satellite imagery. The advantages
include: (a) the generation of new data in areas where existing data are sparse,
discontinuous or non-existent, and (b) the economical coverage of large areas, availability of
a variety of spatial resolutions, relatively frequent and periodic updating of images
(Lillesand and Kiefer 2000; Latifovic et al. 2005; Akiwumi and Butler 2008). It has also been
proposed that developing countries should ensure that options for using low-cost
technology, methods and products that fit their specific needs and capabilities are properly
considered (Barton et al. 2002, Cmara and Fonseca 2007). Some examples are provided here
to demonstrate the feasibility of a low-cost technique based on the analysis of texture of
satellite imagery that can be used for delimitation of terrain units. The delimited units may
be further analysed for different purposes such as regional and urban planning, hazard
mapping, and land reclamation.
The physiographic compartmentalisation technique (Vedovello 1993, 2000) utilises the
spatial information contained in images and the principles of convergence of evidence (see
Sabins 1987) in a systematic deductive process of image interpretation. The technique
evolved from engineering applications of the synthetic land classification approach (e.g.
Grant, 1968, 1974, 1975; TRRL 1978), by incorporating and advancing the logic and
procedures of geological-geomorphological photo-interpretation (see Guy 1966, Howard
1967, Soares and Fiori 1976), which were then converted to monoscopic imagery (as
elucidated by Beaumont and Beaven 1977; Verstappen 1977; Soares et al. 1981; Beaumont,
1985; and others). Image interpretation is performed by identifying and delineating textural
zones on images according to properties that take into account coarseness, roughness,
direction and regularity of texture elements (Table 2). The key assumption proposed by
Vedovello (1993, 2000) is that zones with relatively homogeneous textural characteristics in
satellite images (or air-photos) correspond with specific combinations of geo-environmental
components (such as bedrock, topography and landforms, soils and covering materials)
which share a common tectonic history and land surface evolution. The particular
combinations of geo-environmental components are expected to be associated with specific
ground responses to engineering and other land-use actions. The process of image
interpretation (whether or not supported by additional information) leads to a cartographic
product in which textural zones constitute comprehensive terrain units delimited by fixed
spatial boundaries. The latter correspond with ground features. The units are referred to as
physiographic compartments or basic compartmentalisation units (BCUs), which are the
smallest units for analysis of geo-environmental components at the chosen cartographic
scale (Vedovello and Mattos 1998). The spatial resolution of the satellite image or air-photos
being used for the analysis and interpretation is assumed to govern the correlation between
image texture and terrain characteristics. This correlation is expressed at different scales and
levels of compartmentalisation. Figure 1 presents an example of the identification of basic
compartmentalisation units (BCUs) based on textural differences on Landsat TM5 images. In
this case the features on images are expressions of differences in the distribution and spatial
organisation of textural elements related to drainage network and relief. The example shows
the contrast between drainage networks of areas consisting of crystalline rocks with those
formed on areas of sedimentary rocks, and the resulting BCUs.
3. Terrain susceptibility maps: applications to regional and urban planning
Terrain susceptibility maps are designed to depict ground characteristics (e.g. slope
steepness, landforms) and observed and potential geodynamic phenomena, such as erosion,
instability and flooding, which may entail hazard and potential damage. These maps are
useful for a number of applications including development and land use planning,
environmental protection, watershed management as well as in initial stages of hazard
mapping applications.

Textural
entities and
properties
Description

Image
texture
element
The smallest continuous and uniform surface liable to be distinguishable in
terms of shape and dimensions, and likely to be repetitive throughout an
image. Usual types of image texture elements taken for analysis include:
segments of drainage or relief (e.g. crestlines, slope breaks) and grey tones.

Texture
density
The quantity of textural elements occurring within an area on image. Texture
density is defined as the inverse of the mean distance between texture
elements. Although it reflects a quantitative property, textural density is
frequently described in qualitative and relative terms such as high, moderate,
low etc. Size of texture elements combined with texture density determine
features such as coarseness and roughness.

Textural
arrangement
The form (ordered or not) by which textural elements occur and are spatially
distributed on an image. Texture elements of similar characteristics
may be contiguous thus defining alignments or linear features on the image.
The spatial distribution may be repetitive and it is usually expressed by patterns
that tend to be recurrent (regularity). For example, forms defined by texture
elements due to drainage expressed in rectangular, dendritic, or radial patterns.

Structuring
(Degree of
spatial
organisation)
The greater or lesser organisation underlying the spatial distribution of textural
elements and defined by repetition of texture elements within a certain rule of
placement. Such organisation is usually expressed in terms of regular or
systematic spatial relations, such as length, angularity, asymmetry, and especially
prevailing orientations (tropy or directionality).
Tropy reflects the anisotropic (existence of one, two, or three preferred
directions), or the isotropic (multi-directional or no predominant direction)
character of
textural features. Asymmetry refers to length and angularity of linear features
(rows of contiguous texture elements) in relation to a main feature identified on
image. The degree of organisation can also be expressed by qualitative terms such
as high, moderate, low, or yet as well- or poorly-defined.

Structuring
order
Complexity in the organisation of textural elements, mainly reflecting
superposition of image structuring. For example, a regional directional trend of
textural elements that can be extremely pervasive, distinctive and
superimposed on other orientations also observed on imagery. Another
example is drainage networks that display different orders with respect to
main stream lines and tributaries (1st, 2nd, 3rd orders)
Table 2. Description of elements and properties used for recognition and delineation of
distinctive textural zones on satellite imagery [after Vedovello 1993, 2000].
Early multipurpose and comprehensive terrain susceptibility maps include examples by
Dearman & Matula, (1977), Matula (1979), and Matula & Letko (1980). These authors
described the application of engineering geology zoning methods to the urban planning
process in the former Republic of Czechoslovakia. The studies in this and other countries
focused on engineering geology problems related to geomorphology and geodynamic
processes, seismicity, hydrogeology, and foundation conditions.
Culshaw and Price (2011) point out that in the UK, a major initiative on urban geology
began in the mid-1970s with obtaining geological information relevant to aggregates and
other industrial minerals together with investigations relating to the planning of the
proposed 3rd London Airport. In the latter case, a very wide range of map types was
produced, including one that could be viewed in 3D, using green and red anaglyph
spectacles. Of particular interest was the summary Engineering Planning Map which
showed areas that were generally suitable for different types of construction and, also,
detailed suggested site investigation procedures (Culshaw and Northmore 2002).
As Griffiths and Hearn (2001) explain, subsequently about 50 experimental environmental
geological mapping, thematicgeological mapping and applied geological mapping
projects were carried out between 1980 and 1996. Culshaw and Price (2011) explain that
this was to investigate the best means of collecting, collating, interpreting and presenting
geological data that would be of direct applicability in land-use planning (Brook and Marker
1987). Maps of a variety of geological and terrain types, including industrially despoiled and
potentially unstable areas, with mapping at scales between 1:2500 and 1:25000 were
produced. The derivation and potential applications of these sets of maps and reports are
described by Culshaw et al. (1990) who explain that they include basic data maps, derived
maps and environmental potential maps. Typically such thematic map reports comprise a
series of maps showing the bedrock and superficial geology, thickness of superficial
deposits, groundwater conditions and areas of mining, fill, compressible, or other forms of
potentially unstable ground. Maps showing factual information include the positions of
boreholes or the positions of known mine workings. Derived maps include areas in which
geological and / or environmental information has been deduced, and therefore is subject to
some uncertainty. The thematic sets include planning advice maps showing the constraints
on, and potential for, development and mineral extraction. Culshaw et al. (1990) also
explained that these thematic maps were intended to assist with the formulation of both
local (town or city), regional (metropolis or county) structure plans and policies, provide a
context for the consideration of development proposals and facilitate access to relevant
geological data by engineers and geologists. It was also recognised that these is a need for
national (or state) policies and planning to be properly informed about geological
conditions, not least to provide a sound basis for planning legislation and the issuing of
advice and circulars. Examples of such advice include planning guidance notes concerning
the granting of planning permission for development on potentially unstable land which
were published (DOE, 1990, 1995) by the UK government. A further series of reports which
were intended to assist planners and promote the consideration of geological information in
land-use planning decision making were compiled between 1994 and 1998 by consultants on
behalf of the UK government. Griffiths (2001) provides details of a selection of land
evaluation techniques and relevant case studies. These covered the following themes:
Environmental Geology in Land Use Planning: Advice for planners and developers
(Thompson et al., 1998a)
Environmental Geology in Land Use Planning: A guide to good practice (Thompson et
al., 1998b)
Environmental Geology in Land Use Planning: Emerging issues (Thompson et al.,
1998c)
Environmental Geology in Land Use Planning: Guide to the sources of earth science
information for planning and development (Ellsion and Smith, 1998)

For an extensive review of world-wide examples of geological data outputs intended to
assist with urban geology interpretation, land-use planning and utilisation and geological
hazard avoidance, reference should be made to Culshaw and Price (2001).
Three examples of terrain susceptibility mapping are briefly described and presented in this
Section. The physiographic compartmentalisation technique for regional terrain evaluation
was explored in these cases, and then terrain units were further characterised in geo-
environmental terms.

Fig. 1. Identification of basic compartmentalisation units (BCUs) based on textural
differences on image. The image for crystalline rocks with rugged topography contrasts
with sedimentary rocks with rolling topography. Top: Drainage network. Mid Row:
Drainage network and delineated BCUs. Bottom: Composite Landsat TM5 image and
delineated BCUs [after Fernandes da Silva et al. 2005b, 2010]
Crystalline rocks +
rugged topography
Sedimentary rocks +
rolling topography
3.1 Multipurpose planning
The first example concerns the production of a geohazard prevention map for the City of
So Sebastio (IG/SMA 1996), where urban and industrial expansion in the mountainous
coastal zone of So Paulo State, Southeast Brazil (Figure 2) led to conflicts in land use as well
as to high risks to life and property. Particular land use conflicts arose from the
combinations of landscape and economic characteristics of the region, in which a large
nature and wildlife park co-exists with popular tourist and leisure encroached bays and
beaches, a busy harbour with major oil storage facilities and associated pipelines that cross
the area. Physiographic compartmentalisation was utilised to provide a regional terrain
classification of the area, and then interpretations were applied in two ways: (i) to provide a
territorial zoning based on terrain susceptibility in order to enable mid- to long-term land
use planning; and (ii) to identify areas for semi-detailed hazard mapping and risk
assessment (Fernandes da Silva et al. 1997a, Vedovello et al., 1997; Cripps et al., 2002).
Figure 2 presents the main stages of the study undertaken in response to regional and urban
planning needs of local authorities.
In the Land Susceptibility Map, the units were qualitatively ranked in terms of ground
evidence and estimated susceptibility to geodynamic processes including gravitational mass
movements, erosion, and flooding.
Criteria for terrain unit classification in relation to erosion and mass movements (landslides,
creep, slab failure, rock fall, block tilt and glide, mud and debris flow) were the following: a)
soil weathering profile (thickness, textural and mineral constituency); b) hillslope profile; c)
slope steepness; and d) bedrock structures (fracturing and discontinuities in general).
Criteria in relation to flooding included: a) type of sediments; b) slope steepness; and c)
hydrography (density and morphology of water courses). The resulting classes of terrain
susceptibility can be summarised as follows:
Low susceptibility: Areas where mass movements are unlikely. Low restrictions to
excavations and man-made cuttings. Some units may not be suitable for deep foundations
or other engineering works due to possible high soil compressibility and presence of
geological structures. In flat areas, such as coastal plains, flooding and river erosion are
unlikely.
Moderate susceptibility: Areas of moderate to high steep slope (10 to 30%) with little evidence
of land instability (small-scale erosional processes may be present) but with potential for
occurrence of mass movements. In lowland areas, reported flooding events were associated
with the main drainage stream in relevant zones. Terrain units would possess moderate
restrictions for land-use with minor engineering solutions and protection measures needed
to reduce or avoid potential risks.
High susceptibility: Areas of moderate (10 to 20%) and high steep slope (20 to 30%) situated in
escarpment and footslope sectors, respectively, with evidence of one or more active land
instability phenomena (e.g. erosion + rock falls + landslide) of moderate magnitude.
Unfavourable zones for construction work wherein engineering projects would require
accurate studies of structural stability, and consequently higher costs. In lowland sectors,
recurrent flooding events were reported at intervals of 5 to 10 yrs, associated with main
drainage streams and tributaries. Most zones then in use required immediate remedial
action including major engineering solutions and protection measures.

Very high susceptibility: Areas of steeper slopes (> 30%) situated in the escarpment and
footslope sectors that mainly comprised colluvium and talus deposits. There was evidence
of one or more land instability phenomena of significant magnitude requiring full restriction
on construction work. In lowland sectors, widespread and frequent flooding events at
intervals of less than 5 years were reported and most land-used needed to be avoided in
these zones.
Units or areas identified as having a moderate to high susceptibility to geodynamic
phenomena, and potential conflicts in land use, were selected for detailed engineering
geological mapping in a subsequent stage of the study. The outcomes of the further stage of
hazard mapping are described and discussed in Section 4.

Geol ogical
Infor mati on
Geomorphological
and Soil Inf ormation
REGIONAL
PHYSI OGRAPHI C
COMPARTMENTALISATION
RS imagery MAP
LAND
SUSCEPTIBILITY
CLASS MAP
REGIONAL
RAINFALL
EVALUATI ON
1:50.000
1:50.000
TI ME*SPACE ANALYSI S
INVENTORY
1:50.000 1:10.000
1:10.000
DETAILED SCALE
GEOTECHNI CAL CARTOGRAPHY
REGIONAL EVALUATION
LANDSLIDES
MASS MOVEMENTS
SELECTED
AREAS
LAND USE MAP
LANDSLIDE
E
OCCURRENCE
INVENTORY
MINERAL
EXPLOITATION
INVENTORY
HAZARD
MAPPING
1:10.000
Remotely
sensed data

A) B)
Fig. 2. A) Location map for the City of So Sebastio, north shore of So Paulo State,
Southeast Brazil. B) Schematic flow diagram for the derivation of the geohazard prevention
chart and structural plan (after IG/SMA, 1996).
3.2 Watershed planning and waste disposal
The physiographic compartmentalisation technique was also applied in combination with
GIS tools in support of watershed planning in the Metropolitan District of Campinas,
central-eastern So Paulo State (Figure 3). This regional screening study was performed at
1:50,000 scale to indicate fragilities, restrictions and potentialities of the area for siting waste
disposal facilities (IG/SMA, 1999). A set of common characteristics and properties (also
referred to as attributes) facilitated the assessment of each BCU (or terrain unit) in terms of
Location Map at South America
Brazil
susceptibility to the occurrence of geodynamic phenomena (soil erosion and land instability)
and the potential for soil and groundwater contamination.
As described by Brollo et al. (2000), the terrain units were mostly derived on the basis of
qualitative and semi-quantitative inferences from satellite and air-photo images in
conjunction with existing information (maps and well logs digital and papers records) and
field checks. The set of attributes included: (1) bedrock lithology; (2) density of lineaments
(surrogate expression of underlying fractures and terrain discontinuities); (3) angular
relation between rock structures and hillslope; (4) geometry and shape of hillslope (plan
view and profile); (5) soil and covering material: type, thickness, profile; (6) water table
depth; and (7) estimated permeability. These attributes were cross-referenced with other
specific factors, including hydrogeological (groundwater production, number of wells per
unit area), climatic (rainfall, prevailing winds), and socio-political data (land use,
environmental restrictions). These data were considered to be significant in terms of the
selection of potential sites for waste disposal.

Fig. 3. Location map of the Metropolitan District of Campinas (MDC), central-eastern So
Paulo State, Southeast Brazil (see Section 3.2). Detail map depicts Test Areas T1 and T2
within the MDC (see Section 3.3). Scale bar applies to detail map.
Figure 4 displays the study area in detail together with BCUs, and an example of a pop-up
window (text box) containing key attribute information, as follows: 1st row - BCU code
(COC1), 2nd - bedrock lithology, 3rd - relief (landforms), 4th textural soil profile
constituency, 5th - soil thickness, 6th - water table depth (not show in the example), 7th -
bedrock structures in terms of density of fracturing and directionality), 8th - morphometry
(degree of dissection of terrain). The BCU coding scheme expresses three levels of

0 18 36 km

0 18 36 54 km

compartmentalisation, as follows: 1st letter major physiographic or landscape domain,
2nd predominant bedrock lithology, 3rd - predominant landforms, 4th differential
characteristics of the unit such as estimated soil profile and underlying structures. Using the
example given in Figure 4, COC1 means: C = crystalline rock basement, O = equigranular
gneiss, C = undulating and rolling hills, 1 = estimated soil profile (3 textural horizons and
thickness of 5 to 10 m), underlying structures (low to moderate degree of fracturing, multi-
directional). In terms of general interpretations for the intended purposes of the study,
certain ground characteristics, such as broad valleys filled with alluvial sediments
potentially indicate the presence water table level at less than 5 m below ground surface.
Flood plains or concave hillside slopes that may indicate convergent surface water flows
leading to potentially high susceptibility to erosion, were considered as restrictive factors for
the siting of waste disposal facilities (Vedovello et al. 1998).

Fig. 4. Basic compartmentalisation units (BCUs) and pop-up window showing key attribute
information relevant to BCUs. See text for details. [Not to scale] [after IG/SMA, 1999]
3.3 Regional development planning
The third example is a territorial zoning exercise, in which terrain units delimited through
physiographic compartmentalisation were further assessed in terms of susceptibility to land
instability processes and groundwater vulnerability (Fernandes da Silva et al. 2005b). The
study was conducted in two test areas situated in the Metropolitan District of Campinas
(Figure 3) in order to assist State of So Paulo authorities in the formulation of regional
development policies. It incorporated procedures for inferring the presence and
characteristics of underlying geological structures, such as fractures and other
discontinuities, then evaluating potential implications to ground stability and the flow of
groundwater.
Details of image interpretation procedures for the delimitation of BCUs are described by
Fernandes da Silva et al. (2010). The main image properties and image feature characteristics
considered were as follows: (a) density of texture elements related to drainage and relief
lines; (b) spatial arrangement of drainage and relief lines in terms of form and degree of
organisation (direction, regularity and pattern); (c) length of lines and their angular
relationships, (d) linearity of mainstream channel and asymmetry of tributaries, (e) density
of interfluves, (f) hillside length, and (g) slope forms. These factors were mostly derived by
visual interpretation of images, but external ancillary data were also used to assist with the
determination of relief-related characteristics, such as slope forms and interfluve
dimensions. The example given in Figure 1 shows sub-set images (Landsat TM5) and the
basic compartmentalisation units (BCUs) delineated for Test Areas T1 and T2.
Based on the principle that image texture correlates with properties and characteristics of
the imaged target, deductions can be made about geotechnical-engineering aspects of the
terrain (Beaumont and Beaven 1977, Beaumont 1985). The following attributes were firstly
considered in the geo-environmental characterisation of BCUs: (a) bedrock lithology and
respective weathered materials, (b) tectonic discontinuities (generically referred to as
fracturing), (c) soil profile (thickness, texture and mineralogy), (d) slope steepness (as an
expression of local topography), and (e) water table depth (estimated). Terrain attributes
such as degree of fracturing, bedrock lithology and presence and type of weathered
materials were also investigated as indicators of ground properties. For instance, the
mineralogy, grain size and fabric of the bedrock and related weathered materials would
control properties such as shear strength, pore water suction, infiltration capacity and
natural attenuation of contaminants (Vrba and Civita 1994, Hudec 1998, Hill and
Rosenbaum 1998, Thornton et al. 2001, Fernandes 2003). Geological structures, such as faults
and joints within the rock mass, as well as relict structures in saprolitic soils, are also liable
to exert significant influences on shear strength and hydraulic properties of geomaterials
(Aydin 2002, Pine and Harrison 2003). In this particular case study, analysis of lineaments
extracted from satellite images combined with tectonic modelling underpinned inferences
about major and small-scale faults and joints. The approach followed studies by Fernandes
and Rudolph (2001) and Fernandes da Silva et al. (2005b) who asserted that empirical
models of tectonic history, based on outcrop scale palaeostress regime determinations, can
be integrated with lineament analysis to identify areas: i) of greater density and
interconnectivity of fractures; and ii) greater probability of open fractures; also to iii) deduce
angular relationships between rock structures (strike and dip) and between these and hill
slope directions. These procedures facilitated 3-dimensional interpretations and up-scaling
from regional up to semi-detailed assessments which were particularly useful for
assessments of local ground stability and groundwater flow.
The BCUs were then classified into four classes (very high, high, moderate, and low) in
terms of susceptibility to land instability and groundwater vulnerability according to
qualitative and semi-quantitative rules devised from a mixture of empirical knowledge and
statistical approaches. A spreadsheet-based approach that used nominal, interval and
numerical average values assigned in attribute tables was used for this. A two-step
procedure was adopted to produce the required estimates where, at stage one, selected
attributes were analysed and grouped into three score categories (A - high, M - moderate, B
- low B) according to their potential influence on groundwater vulnerability and land

instability processes. In the second step, all attributes were considered to have the same
relative influence and the final classification for each BCU was the sum of the scores A, B, M.
The possible combinations of these are illustrated in Table 3. Figure 5 shows overall terrain
classifications for susceptibility to land instability.

Combinations of scores Classification
AAAA Very high
AAAM, AAAB, AAMM High
AAMB, AABB, AMMM, AMMB,
MMMM
Medium
AMBB, ABBB, MMMB, MMBB,
MBBB, BBBB
Low
Table 3. Possible combinations of scores A (high), M (moderate), and B (low)
respective to the four attributes (bedrock lithology and weathered materials, fracturing, soil
type, and slope steepness) used for classification of units (BCUs) in terms of susceptibility to
land instability and groundwater vulnerability.

Fig. 5. Maps of susceptibility to land instability processes. Test Areas T1 and T2. UTM
projection and coordinates [After Fernandes da Silva et al., 2010].
4. Hazard mapping: Land instability and flooding
In order to prevent damage to structures and facilities, disruption to production, injury and
loss of life, public authorities have a responsibility to assess hazard mitigation and controls
that may require remedial engineering work, or emergency and contingency actions. In
order to accommodate these different demands, information about the nature of the hazard,
and the consequences and likelihood of occurrence, are needed. Hazard maps aim to reduce
adverse environmental impacts, prevent disasters, as well as to reconcile conflicting
influences on land use. The examples given in this Section demonstrate the identification
and zonation in terms of the likelihood and consequences of land instability and flooding
hazards. There are several reasons for undertaking such work, for instance to provide public
authorities with data on which to base structural plans and building codes as well as civil
defence and emergency response programmes.
4.1 Application to local structural plans
As indicated in Section 3.1, the BCUs (terrain units) classified as having a moderate to high
susceptibility to geodynamic processes (mass movements and flood) were selected for
further detailed engineering geological mapping. This was to provide data and supporting
information to the structure plan of the City of So Sebastio. The attributes of the selected
units were cross-referenced with other data sets, such as regional rainfall distribution, land-
use inventory, and mineral exploitation records to estimate the magnitude and frequency of
hazards and adverse impacts. Risk assessment was based on the estimated probability of
failure occurrence and the potential damage thus caused (security of life, destruction of
property, disruption of production). Both the triggering and the predisposing factors were
investigated, and, so far as was possible, identified. It is worth noting the great need to
consider socio-economic factors in hazard mapping and risk analysis. For instance, areas of
consolidated housing and building according to construction patterns and reasonable
economic standards were distinguished from areas of unconsolidated/expanding urban
occupation. Temporal analysis of imagery and aerial photos, such as densities of vegetation
and exposed soil in non-built-up areas, were utilised to supplement the land use inventory.
The mineral exploration inventory included the locations of active and abandoned mineral
exploitation sites (quarries and open pit mining for aggregates) and certain geotechnical
conditions. Besides slope steepness and inappropriate occupancy and land use, the presence
of major and minor geological structures was considered to be one of the main predisposing
factors to land instability in the region studied.
Figure 6 depicts a detail of the hazard map for the City of So Sebastio. Zones of land
instability were delimited and identified by code letters that correspond with geodynamic
processes as follows: A - landslides, B - creep, C - block tilt/glide, and D - slab failure/rock
fall. Within these zones, landsliding and other mass movement hazards were further
differentiated according to structural geological predisposing factors as follows:
r occurrence of major tectonic features such as regional faults or brittle-ductile shear zones;
f coincidence of spatial orientations between rock foliation, hillslope, and man-made
cuttings; t high density of fracturing (particularly jointing) in combination with
coincidence of spatial orientations between fracture and foliation planes, hillslope, and man-
made cuttings (Moura-Fujimoto et al., 1996; Fernandes da Silva et al. 1997b).


Fig. 6. Example of hazard map from the City of So Sebastio, north shore of So Paulo
State, Southeast Brazil. Key for unit classification: Light red = very high susceptibility; Blue
= high susceptibility; Light orange = moderate susceptibility; Yellow = low susceptibility.
See Section 4.1 for code letters on geodynamic processes and predisposing factors. [after
Fernandes da Silva et al. 1997b] (not to scale).
4.2 Application to civil defence and emergency response programmes
Methods of hazard mapping can be grouped into three main approaches: empirical,
probabilistic, and deterministic (Savage et al. 2004, as cited in Tominaga, 2009b ). Empirical
approaches are based on terrain characteristics and previous occurrence of geodynamic
phenomena in order to estimate both the potential for, and the spatial and temporal
distribution of, future phenomena and their effects. Probabilistic approaches employ
statistical methods to reduce subjectivity of interpretations. However, the outcomes depend
very much on measured patterns defined through site tests and observations, but it is not
always feasible to perform this acquisition of data in developing regions and countries.
Deterministic approaches focus on mathematical modelling that aims quantitatively to
describe certain parameters and rules thought to control physical processes such as slope
stability and surface water flow. Their application tends to be restricted to small areas and
detailed studies.
In the State of Sao Paulo (Southeast Brazil), high rates of population influx and poorly
planned land occupation have led to concentration of dwellings in unsuitable areas, thus
leading to increasing exposure of the community to risk and impact of hazard events. In
addition, over the last 20 years, landsliding and flooding events have been affecting an
increasingly large geographical area, so bringing about damage to people and properties
(Tominaga et al. 2009a). To deal with this situation, Civil Defence actions including
preventive, mitigation, contingency (preparedness), and emergency response programmes
have been implemented. The assessment of the potential for the occurrence of landslides,
floods and other geodynamic processes, besides the identification and management of
associated risks in urban areas has played a key role in Civil Defence programmes. To date,
systematic hazard mapping has covered 61 cities in the State of So Paulo, and nine other
cities are currently being mapped (Pressinotti et al., 2009).
Examples that mix empirical and probabilistic approaches are briefly presented in this
Section. The concepts of hazard mapping and risk analysis adopted for these studies
followed definitions provided in Varnes (1984) and UN-ISDR (2004), who described risk as
an interaction between natural or human induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.
According to Tominaga (2009b), a semi-quantitative assessment of risk, R, can be derived
from the product R = [H x (V x D)], where: H is the estimated hazard or likelihood of
occurrence of a geodynamic and potentially hazardous phenomenon; V is the vulnerability
determined by a number of physical, environmental, and socio-economic factors that expose
a community and/or facilities to adverse impacts; and D is the potential damage that
includes people, properties, and economic activities to be affected. The resulting risk, R,
attempts to rate the damage to structures and facilities, injury and loss of lives, and
disruption to production.
The first example relates to hazard mapping and risk zoning applied to housing urban areas
in the City of Diadema (Marchiori-Faria et al. 2006), a densely populated region (around
12,000 inhab. per km
2
) of only 31.8 km
2
, situated within the Metropolitan Region of the State
Capital So Paulo (Figure 7). The approach combined the use of high-resolution satellite
imagery (Ikonos sensor) and ortho-rectified aerial photographs with ground checks. The
aim was to provide civil defence authorities and decision-makers with information about
land occupation and ground conditions as well as technical advice on the potential
magnitude of instability and flooding, severity of damage, likelihood of hazard, and
possible mitigating and remedial measures. Driving factors included the need to produce
outcomes in an updateable and reliable manner, and in suitable formats to be conveyed to
non-specialists. The outcomes needed to meet preventive and contingency requirements,
including terrain accessibility, linear infrastructure conditions (roads and railways in
particular), as well as estimations of the number of people who would need to be removed
from risk areas and logistics for these actions. Risk zones were firstly identified through
field work guided by local authorities. Site observations concentrated on relevant terrain
characteristics and ground conditions that included: slope steepness and hillslope geometry,
type of slope (natural, cut or fill), soil weathering profile, groundwater and surface water
conditions, and land instability features (e.g. erosion rills, landslide scars, river

undercutting). In addition, information about periodicity, magnitude, and effects of
previous landsliding and flooding events as well as perceptions of potential and future
problems were gathered through interviewing of residents. Satellite images were further
used to assist with the identification of buildings and houses liable to be affected and the
delineation of risk zone boundaries. Risk assessment was based on a qualitative ranking
scheme with four levels of risk: R1 (low); R2 (moderate); R3 (high); R4 (very-high). Low risk
(R1) zones, for example, comprised only predisposing factors to instability (e.g. informal
housing and cuttings in steep slope areas) or to flooding (e.g. informal housing in lowland
areas and close to watercourses but no reported flood within the last 5 years). Very-high risk
(R4) zones were characterized by significant evidence of land instability (e.g. presence of
cracks in soil and walls, subsidence steps, leaning of trees and electricity poles, erosion rills
and ravines, landslide scars) or flooding hazards (e.g. flooding height marks on walls,
riverbank erosion, proximity of dwellings to river channel, severe floods reported within the
last 5 years).
The outcomes, including basic and derived data and interpretations, were integrated and
then presented on a geo-referenced computational system designed to respond the needs of
data displaying and information management of the State of So Paulo Civil Defence
authorities (CEDEC). As described by Pressinotti et al. (2007), such system and database,
called Map-Risk, includes cartographic data, interpretative maps (risk zoning), imagery, and
layers of cadastral information (e.g. urban street network). The system also enabled
generation and manipulation of outputs in a varied set of text (reports), tabular (tables), and
graphic information including photographic inventories for risk zones. The system was fully
conceived and implemented at low cost, utilizing commercial software available that were
customized in this visualisation system through target-script programming designed to
achieve user functionalities (e.g. ESRI/MapObjects, Delphi, Visual Basic, OCX MapObjects).
Examples of delineated risk zones for the City of Diadema and a display of the Map-Risk
functionalities are presented in Figure 7.
The second example refers to a flooding hazard mapping performed at regional and local
scales in the Paraiba do Sul River Watershed, Eastern So Paulo State (Figure 8), in order to
provide a rapid and comprehensive understanding of hazard phenomena and their impacts,
as well as to enable application of procedures of data integration and mapping in different
socio-economic contexts (Andrade et al. 2010). The information was systematised and
processed to allow the build-up of a geo-referenced database capable of providing
information for both environmental regional planning (economic-ecological zoning) and
local scale hazard mapping for civil defence purposes. The regional evaluation covered all
the 34 municipalities located in the watershed, and comprised the following stages of work:
1) survey of previous flooding events reported in newspaper and historical archives; 2) data
systematisation and consolidation to translate gathered news into useful pieces of technical
information; 3) identification of flooding occurrence locations using Google Earth tools; 4)
cartographic auditing, geo-referencing and spatial data analysis using a freeware GIS
package called SPRING (see Section 5); 5) exploratory statistical analysis of data; 6)
preliminary flooding hazard classification on the basis of statistical results. Such preliminary
classification used geopolitical (municipality) and hydrographical sub-basin boundaries as
units for the analysis.

A)

B)
Fig. 7. A) Location of the City of Diadema in the Metropolitan District of So Paulo (State
capital), Southeast Brazil and example of delineated risk zones over a high-resolution
satellite image (Ikonos). B) Example of Map-Risk system display. See Section 4.2 for details.
[after Marchiori-Faria et al., 2006; Pressinotti et al., 2007]


Fig. 8. Location of Paraiba do Sul River Watershed in Eastern So Paulo State and
distribution of flooding occurrences. Internal sub-divisions correspond to geopolitical
boundaries (municipalities). [After Andrade et al., 2010]
The regional evaluation was followed-up with detailed flooding hazard mapping (1:3,000
scale) in 7 municipalities, which included: a) ground observations - where previous
occurrence was reported to measure and record information on flooding height marks,
land occupation, and local terrain, riverbank and water course characteristics; b) geo-
referencing and spatial data analysis, with generation of interpolated numerical grids on
flooding heights and local topography; c) data interpretation and delimitation of flooding
hazard zones; d) cross-referencing of hazard zones with land use and economic information
leading to delimitation of flooding risk zones. Numerical scoring schemes were devised for
ranking hazard and risk zones, thus allowing relative comparisons between different areas.
Hazard zone scores were based on intervals of flooding height (observed and interpolated)
and temporal recurrence of flooding events. Flooding risk scores were quantified as follows:
R = [H x (V x D)], in which potential damage and vulnerability were considered (housing
areas, urban infrastructure, facilities and services to be affected) on the basis of image
interpretation and cross-referencing with land use maps and information. A detail map (yet
unpublished) showing the interpolated grid of flooding heights and delineated hazard
zones is presented in Figure 9.

A)

B)
Fig. 9. A) Measurement of maximum flood height for recent flooding event. B) Numerical
interpolated grid of flooding heights and delineated flooding hazard zones. Green = Low
probability of occurrence, Estimated flooding heights (Efh) < 0.40 m. Yellow = Moderate
probability, 0.40 < Efh < 0.80 m. Light Brown = High probability, 0.80 < Efh < 1.20 m.
Red = Very high probability, Efh > 1.20 m. Ground observations and measurements: cross
and rectangle. Continuous lines: black = topographic contour lines, blue = main river
channel boundaries. Not to scale.
5. Geo-environmental assessment: applications to land reclamation policies
Land reclamation of sites of previous mineral exploitation frequently involve actions to
minimize environmental damage and aim at re-establish conditions for natural balance and
sustainability so reconciling former mined/quarried sites with their surroundings (Brollo et
al., 2002). Strategies and programmes for land reclamation need to consider physical and

biological characteristics of the local environment as well as socio-economic factors. Socio-
environmental regeneration, involves not only revegetation and land stabilisation
engineering, but also rehabilitation or introduction of a new function for the area.

A)

B)
Fig. 10. A) Location map and satellite image of the Municipality of Ubatuba (North Shore So
Paulo State, Southeast Brazil). Dots on image represent quarried/mined sites. B) Schematic
display of the integrated approach taken to reconcile mineral exploitation management and
land reclamation. The scheme shows the three main issues to be addressed (centre) and topics
of interest to be studied. [after Ferreira et al., 2006; Ferreira & Fernandes da Silva, 2008]
The case study concerns a GIS-based geo-environmental management scheme to reconcile
sustainable mineral exploration of aggregates and construction materials with regeneration
of abandoned and/or derelict mined sites in the municipality of Ubatuba (North Shore of
So Paulo State, Brazil). Until the early 1990's intensive exploitation of residual soil and
ornamental stone (for fill and civil construction) took place in an unplanned and
unregulated manner. This led to highly adverse environmental impacts, including the
creation of 114 derelict and abandoned sites which resulted in State and Federal authorities
enforcing a virtual halt to mining activity in the region. Besides this, the municipality of
Ubatuba is highly regarded for its attractive setting and landscape, including encroached
coastline with sandy beaches and bays with growing leisure and tourism activities. The area
encompasses the Serra do Mar Mountain Range covered by large remnants of Atlantic
Forest so that approximately 80% of the municipal territory lies within a nature and wildlife
reserve (Figure 10A). As described by Ferreira et al. (2005, 2006), the devised strategy
required an integrated approach (Figure 10B) in order to address three key issues: 1)
environmental recovery of a number of derelict (abandoned, unsightly) sites; 2) reduction of
hazards (land instability, erosion, flooded areas etc), particularly at those sites informally
occupied by low income populations; and 3) rational exploitation of materials for local
building materials corresponding to local needs. The study was implemented using a
freeware GIS and image processing package called SPRING (Cmara et al. 1996, INPE 2009)
and ortho-rectified air photos (1-metre resolution, taken in 2001, leading to an approximate
scale of 1:3,000).
The key output of the land management strategy was a prioritisation ranking scheme based
on a comprehensive site critical condition (ICR) score, which synthesised the significance of
each factor or issue to addressed (IG/SMA, 2008; Ferreira et al., 2009). Accordingly, the
score system consisted of three numerical indicators: 1) environmental degradation
indicator (IDE), 2) mineral potential indicator (IPM), and 3) hazard/risk indicator (IRI). Each
indicator was normalised to a scalar range (0 to 1), and the ICR was the sum of the three
indicators. The ICR was then used to set up directives and recommendations to advise local
and State authorities about the possible measures to be taken, through mid- and long-term
policies and/or immediate remedial and mitigating actions.
According to Ferreira et al. (2008), the IDE comprised four component criteria to estimate
the degree of adverse environmental impact (or degradation) of the individual mineral
extraction sites: erosional features, terrain irregularity, herbaceous and bushy vegetation,
and exposed soil. Information on these factors was acquired from imagery and ground
checks. Tracing of linear features on images was investigated as an indicator of the
frequency and distribution of erosional processes (rills, ravines, piping scars) as well as for
terrain irregularity. In the first case, the sum of linear features representative of erosional
processes was ratioed by the area of each site to quantify the estimate. Similarly, linear
features related to the contour of cutting berms, rill marks, and slope breaks caused by
mining/quarrying activity, were also measured to quantify terrain irregularity. The areal
extent of herbaceous and bushy vegetation as well as exposed soil were also delimited on
images.
The IPM, as described by Ferreira & Fernandes da Silva (2008), was achieved by means of
the following procedures: 1) identification and delimitation of quarried/mined sites
(polygons) on geo-referenced imagery; 2) derivation of local DEM (digital elevation model)
from topographic contour lines to each delimited site; 3) calculation of local volume to
material (V1) based on the original geometry of the quarried/mined sites; 4) calculation of

volume of material already taken (V2) and exploitable volume of material (V3), so that [V3]
= [V1 V2]; 5) application of classification rules based on legal environmental and land use
restrictions. The calculation of volumes of material (residual soil and ornamental stone) was
performed by means of GIS operations involving polygons (areas) and numerical grids of
topographic heights generated with nearest neighbour interpolator in the SPRING package
(Figure 11). The IRI was derived from R = [H x (V x D)] see Section 4.2 focussing on
mass movement and flood hazards and their consequences to people, property and
economic activity. According to Rossini-Penteado (2007) and Tominaga et al. (2008), Hazard,
H, was quantified according to the spatial and temporal probability of occurrence of each
phenomenon and then weighted in relation to areal distribution of such probabilities
(percentage of sq. km). The vulnerability, V, was computed by means of scores assigned to
socio-economic aspects such as nature of built structures, spatial regularity of land
occupation, presence of urban infrastructure (e.g. water supply, sanitation, health services,
refuse collection and disposal method), road/street network, educational and income
patterns. Similarly, in order to estimate the extent of potential damage, D, numerical scores
were devised and attributed to the estimated number of people and buildings per unit area,
and to the proportion of built area in relation to total area of the site.

Fig. 11. Example of the mineral potential indicator (IPM) for the Municipality of Ubatuba
(North Shore So Paulo State, Southeast Brazil). A) Abandoned/quarried site delimited on
image and numerical grid of topographic heights. B) Screen display from GIS-based
computation of volumes of exploitable material [after Ferreira & Fernandes da Silva, 2008].
Figure 12 illustrates the application of the ICR scoring scheme to mined/quarried sites in
Ubatuba. In summary, 47% of sites were classified as very low priority, 12% as low priority,
19% as moderate priority, 15% as high priority (18 sites), and 7% as very high priority (8
sites). The priorities represent a combination of availability of exploitable volumes of
building materials and the need for measures to tackle adverse environmental impacts and
high risk situations (Figure 12). Based on the application of the ICR scores and current land
use, directives and recommendations for land reclamation and socio-regeneration of
mined/quarried sites were consolidated into ten main groups (IG/SMA, 2008; Ferreira et
al., 2009). Such directives and recommendations ranged from simple measures such as
routine maintenance and cleaning, revegetation with grass and control of water surface flow
(including run-off) to the implementation of leisure and multi-purpose public facilities,
major land stabilisation projects combined with mineral exploitation, and monitoring.

Fig. 12. Spatial distribution of mined/quarried sites classified according to critical condition
score scheme (ICR). Sites classified as High (triangles) and Very High (squares) priority are
highlighted. Remarks: 1- Serra do Mar Nature and Wildlife State Park, 2- Environmentally
sensitive protected areas. ICR-MB = Very Low priority, ICR-B = Low priority, ICR-M =
Moderate priority, ICR-A = High priority, ICR-MA = Very high priority [after IG/SMA, 2008].
6. Conclusions
Geo-environmental terrain classification may be used as part of the land-use planning decision
making and may also provide the basis of responses to emergency situations. In most
examples presented here, classification schemes were based on knowledge of the bedrock
geology, topography, landforms, superficial geology (soil and weathered materials),
groundwater conditions and land-uses. Information for the classification has been variously
derived from remote sensing and fieldwork rather than specific site investigations. A
framework for carrying out a terrain classification at different scales has been presented.
In practice, the effectiveness of land zoning system requires the implementation of planning
controls. To do this the Local Authority needs adequate resources and an appropriate legal

or planning guidance policy framework. Preferably, the control process should be based on
the principle that permission will be given unless there is a good reason for refusal. In
granting permission, conditions may then be applied to ensure the safety of the
development with regard to landsliding, flooding and other potential problems. However it
must be recognised that where practical control over development cannot be exercised,
other preventive, mitigative or advisory measures may be all that can be used.
Marker (1996) explains that the rate and style of development has a major impact on the
information requirements. Without a rigorously enforced planning framework based on
accurate information about the ground conditions very rapid urban development will
generally lead to construction on areas of less stable land or land which may be subject to
hazards such as flooding or pollution. This type of development may also result in the
sterilisation of geological resources which it would be expedient to exploit as part of the
development process. On the other hand restricting development to designated areas will
generally require detailed information about the ground conditions and likelihood and
potential impact of hazards to be available at the planning stage. It also assumes existence of
the resources and will to enforce the plan. Such models can severely constrain the social
and economic development of an area, lead to excessively high population densities and
give rise to problems associated with the re-use of previously developed land.
Policy formulation may incorporate incentives (e.g. subsidies and reduced taxes) to be
provided by local and state governments to encourage such measures and good practice,
which can be viewed as kinds of voluntary or induced control. In some cases financial
controls exerted by public funding as well as mortgage and insurance providers are the
means by which some types of development may be curtailed but such controls may not
prevent informal occupancy of hazardous areas. In this regard, some of the examples
presented here, from a regional and local perspective, have also demonstrated
environmental management regulations may have little meaning in some urban areas
subject to rapid expansion where, because of population influx, informal housing is virtually
an inevitable consequence.
Due to the latter hazard mapping updating and post-episode monitoring [failure episodes]
are absolutely vital as these procedures facilitate a contemporary understanding of ground
conditions and risk circumstances, which can be essential to provide timely and efficient
advice for mitigation and control of hazards as well as to design effective contingency
actions and engineering solutions.
7. Acknowledgements
The authors are very much indebted to the Sao Paulo State Geological Institute and its staff
for most of the examples provided here.
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6
The Implementation of IPPC Directive
in the Mediterranean Area
Tiberio Daddi, Maria Rosa De Giacomo, Marco Frey,
Francesco Testa and Fabio Iraldo
Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento S. Anna, Pisa,
Italy
1. Introduction
In Europe industrial activities are amongst the main causative factors of pollution. Until
1996 European Member States adopted separate regulations and multiple authorizations to
address pollution control and prevention, and different laws separately dealt with air, water
and soil issues, thus providing only partial solutions to the problem.
The Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996, on Integrated Pollution Prevention and
Control (IPPC Directive
1
) aims at the integrated pollution prevention and control within
European Member States (Schoenberger, 2009) starting from the activities listed in the annex
I of the Directive (Honkasalo et al., 2005), which consider all environmental aspects (air,
water, soil, waste, etc.) as a whole and unique integrated system. According to this
approach, the Directive introduces a single authorization (Styles, et al., 2009) - the Integrated
Environmental Authorization the so-called permit to regulate the environmental
behaviour of IPPC-related activities, to determine parameters of environmental aspects and
establish measures to avoid or reduce environmental impact.
Thanks to this Directive, European Member States shall correctly manage all aspects of
industrial activity likely to generate environmental impacts, under the same administrative
procedure in order to be granted the above mentioned permit.
The industrial activities listed in annex I of the law include six main topics: energy
production, production and processing of metals, minerals, chemical, waste management
and others activities e.g. pulp and paper, pre-treatment or dyeing of textile fibres or
textiles, tanning of hides and skins, intensive pig and poultry farming, surface treatments of
substances, objects or products by means of organic solvents -. The Directive is addressed
mostly at large installations, and indicates production capacity thresholds that exclude the
smallest installations (Samarakoon & Gudmestad, 2011).
This law lays down measures to prevent or, whereas not viable, to reduce emissions in air,
water and land from the above-mentioned activities, as well as measures concerning waste,
in order to achieve an overall high level of environmental protection (European
Commission, 2008). The Directive thus provides an holistic approach to pollution
prevention.

1
In order to correct some failures in the application of the Directive, in 2008 the European Commission
enacted a new IPPC Directive and many Countries are still implementing it.


120
The IPPC Directive introduced some important improvements in the form of Best Available
Techniques (BATs hereafter), i.e. the most effective and advanced stage in the development
of activities and their methods of operation which indicate the practical suitability of
particular techniques for providing in principle the basis for emission limit values designed
to prevent and, where that is not practicable, generally to reduce emissions and the impact
on the environment as a whole. BATs concerns technologies and organizational measures
expected to minimize overall environment pressures at acceptable private costs (Brchet &
Tulkens, 2009). Techniques should be available, so as to allow implementation in relevant
industrial sectors, under economically and technically viable conditions, taking into
consideration costs and advantages, whether or not the techniques are used or produced
within the Member State in question, as long as they are reasonably accessible to the
operator. Finally, techniques should be the most effective in achieving a high general degree
of environmental protection. In view of that, BAT Reference Documents (BREF), published
by the European IPPC Bureau, are the basic tools to implement the requirements of the
Directive (Kocabas et al., 2009).
The purpose of this chapter is to present some of the results of the European project MED
IPPC NET (Network for strengthening and improving the implementation of the IPPC Directive
regarding the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control in the Mediterranean) whose main
objective was the evaluation of the implementation of the IPPC Directive in seven European
regions.
The chapter proceeds as follows. After a brief literature review about studies on IPPC topic,
that will be included in paragraph 2, paragraph 3 illustrates the MED IPPC NET project.
Paragraph 4 relates to the research question and the method applied to the study, while
paragraphs 5 and 6 include some of the results achieved by the project. Finally, conclusions
are included in paragraph 7, and reference list in paragraph 8.
2. The implementation of the IPPC directive
Many studies deal with the evaluation of the IPPC Directive implementation, and most
them refer to the application of BAT in the industrial field or in a localized nation or
country.
The paper by Kobacas (Kobacas et. al., 2009) illustrates the results of the work derived by
the first implementation of the IPPC Directive and the BREF Document within an industrial
facility in Turkey (Adoption of EUs IPPC Directive to a Textile Mill in Turkey: BAT
Applications). In particular, the study focuses on water and energy consumption of a textile
mill in Turkey, assessed further to the application of specific BAT aiming to reduce these
consumptions.
In their paper Brchet & Tulkens (Brchet & Tulkens, 2009) stated that Best Available
Techniques should be best not only in term of private aims and interests, but also according
to the societys point of view. To this purpose, they present a modeling framework based on
methodologies able to satisfy both these two purposes. They conclude that a fair
combination of Best Available Techniques should be preferred to one single BAT. In their
study they consider a lime factory.
Karavanas et. al. (Karavanas et. al., 2009) presented an integrated methodological approach
for the evaluation of the implementation of Best Available Techniques in facilities operating
under the IPPC. For the application of the proposed methodology, the authors take into a
account the Greek paper manufacturing sector and the relevant environmental performance

The Implementation of IPPC Directive in the Mediterranean Area

121
indicators and indices based on the reports of the European Polluting Emissions Register
(EPER), and the application of environmental permits submitted by the Competent
Authority for this matter. By means of these data, the authors monitored the progress of
BAT implementation through the comparison of indicators and after the normalization with
benchmarks from BREF or granted environmental permits. Facilities have been ranked
according to their BAT implementation so to provide clear indication about their
environmental performance. The methodology proposed by the authors thus provides a
useful evaluation of environmental performance in the pursue of IPPC targets.
Barros et. al. (Barros et al., 2009) in their work identified BAT in the seafood industry in the
northwest of Spain. In particular, they carried out an analysis about the existing
technologies in the mussel canning plant as well as a list of BAT both installed or not. Then
BATs have been assessed in order to promote their implementation in a mussel canning
facility.
The report Assessment of the implementation of the IPPC Directive in the UK of January 2008
commissioned by the Air and Environment Quality Division of the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) - aimed to select ten UK-based installations
with IPPC permits, and to assess the degree of implementation of IPPC requirements of the
Directive by each case study. The survey has focused on the investigation of the procedures
applied and the conditions set for selected permits, as also on the assessment of the current
installation operation when compared to permit conditions and BAT. In particular, the main
objective of this study was to select and analyse some permits issued in UK in order to
assess their compliance with the IPPC Directive.
A part of literature deals more specifically with the environmental performance or efficiency
of IPPC industries.
About this aspect another study (Honkasalo et. al., 2005) analyses some case studies of
British, Finnish and Swedish industries and the corresponding regulatory bodies, to
contribute to the discussion on the potentiality of the IPPC Directive as a driver of eco-
efficiency in these industries.
Styles et al. (2009) take into account the application of the Environmental Emissions Index
(EEI) to reported emissions data about pharmaceutical-manufacturing installations and
power stations holding IPPC in Ireland. Results on reported emissions demonstrated
environmental performance improvements.
Georgopoulou et al. (Georgopoulou et al., 2008) developed within the framework of a
research project - a decision-support tool for public and private administrators and
managers (called BEAsT, BAT Economic Attractiveness Tool) in order to make possible an
assessment of different BATs and their combinations in term of economic costs and
environmental benefits deriving from their application. Since the development of this tool
initiated by the necessity to provide an action plan for BAT promotion in a Greek region,
where main environmental impacts of industrial activities derived from air pollution and
liquid waste, the tool was mainly addressed to these two impacts. In practice, BEAsT was
used to assess the environmental benefits to be expected from BATs, and to identify which
BATs are attractive for end-users in the economic outlook.
The main purpose of the study of Silvo et. al. (Silvo et. al., 2009) was to investigate the
impacts of the IPPC Directive on environmental performance of pulp and paper mills in
Finland in the period 2001-2006. To do this, the authors compared the Emission Limit Values
of the IPPC permits with those of other permits not linked to IPPC.


122
As outlined in this paragraph, many studies exist in literature on the evaluation of IPPC and
the effects that they have generated in some specific activities or sectors that also take into
account the different experiences occurred in various different European Member States.
Thanks to the MED IPPC NET project the study carried out represents an added value to the
existent studies in literature on about the evaluation of the IPPC. We evaluated the
implementation of the IPPC Directive in seven European regions analysing many of its
aspects (laws that implemented the Directive, administrative procedure to issuing permits,
control system in facilities envisaging permits, content of the permits and the analysis of
requirements and prescriptions provided by them). The most important novelty of the study
is that it allows a comparison among the regions of many European Member States.
3. The MED IPPC NET project
The MED IPPC NET (Network for strengthening and improving the implementation of the IPPC
Directive regarding the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control in the Mediterranean) is a 30
month-project co-funded by the European Commission. Its main goal is to identify some
crucial aspects in the implementation of the IPPC Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996
concerning Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control within the Mediterranean area. In
this area there are significant differences in how European Member States have perceived
the importance of the IPPC, and on what kind of supporting or coercive mechanism they
have implemented to improve its practical application.
The MED IPPC NET project, by identifying these differences, aims to establish a set of
common criteria that should be taken into account by all Mediterranean regions wishing to
enhance their implementation. These common criteria will constitute the inputs to develop a
common methodology in implementing the IPPC Directives within the Mediterranean area
which will help it, in turn, to become a reference for the environmental behaviour of its
industrial facilities.
To achieve this goal the seven regions participating in the project, and belonging to four
European Member States Andalusia, Spain (Andalusian Institute of Technology),
Piedmont, Italy (Arpa Piemonte), Sicily, Italy (Arpa Sicilia), Slovenia, whole national
territory (Scientific Research Centre Bistra Ptuj), Tuscany, Italy (Scuola Superiore SantAnna
and Eurobic Toscana Sud), Valencia, Spain (Environment, water, town planning and
housing Department of Valencian Government), West Macedonia, Greece (Environmental
Centre of Kozani) -, carried out in-depth studies in each region about the implementation
modalities of the IPPC Directive.
To this purpose the project provided an analytical phase (that constituted a specific task
component of the project) in order to study how the seven regions involved in the project
implemented the IPPC Directive.
4. Research question and method
In this framework, this chapter aims to answer to some research questions, such as: Has the
Directive been implemented with the same approach in the Member States? Do permitting
procedure, inspection and control system show differences among Member States?
From June 2009 to May 2010 the seven regions involved in the project collected and
analysed information and data on the implementation of the IPPC Directive applying a
common research methodology. The results have been later compared building an
Interregional Analysis report of the project.


123
The methodological approach, necessary to evaluate in each region the differences existing
in the implementation of the IPPC, has been defined taking into account some existing
studies to identify which aspects could be more interesting for the purpose of the project.
On the basis of the final version of the methodology, some operational tools have been
applied (e.g. questionnaires, guidelines, etc.) to carry out the Analysis through an
homogeneous approach in each region participating to the project.
The methodological approach has included four typologies of Analysis: the Legislative
Analysis, the Administrative Analysis, the Control and Inspection System Analysis and the
Content of the Authorizations Analysis.
The Legislative Analysis aimed to analyzing how the IPPC Directive has been implemented
in national and local legislative frameworks. In particular, each region collected information
and data through the study and the consultation of laws, reports and all documents about
the IPPC. Moreover, interviews with Competent Authorities for permit issue have been
carried out with the aim to collect information about the typologies of Competent
Authorities involved in the issuing of the Integrated Environmental Authorization, the
introduction of BAT Reference Documents (BREF) in the national, regional and local
contexts, and some information concerning procedures and laws that guarantee the access to
information and public participation in the permitting procedure.
The Administrative Analysis aimed to acknowledge the procedure for the granting of
permits in the several regions involved in the project.
Some aspects collected and studied concerned data and documents requested by the
procedure on issuing permits, the contents of these documents, the descriptions of
simplifications in the permitting procedure for particular categories of enterprises/sectors,
the number and the nature of the institutions involved in the permitting procedure, the
description of the environmental assessment carried out in the permitting procedure, etc.
The objective of the Control and Inspection System Analysis is to understand how that System
has been implemented in the regions involved. To this purpose, some information has been
collected about the nature and the role of Competent Authorities that carry out the inspections,
the kinds of non-compliance identified by the Control Authorities, the public fares to pay, etc.
For all above mentioned analyses, each region collected information also through interviews
with the Competent Authorities for the granting of permits. Thanks to these interviews it
was possible to collect opinions from these Authorities so as to identify strengths and
weaknesses but also best practices - on the IPPC implementation in the Mediterranean
regions involved in the project.
The Content of Authorizations Analysis has been realized by consulting and analysing a
sample of permits of some IPPC sectors selected for the project by the activities listed in the
annex I of the Directive:
- 1.1: Combustion installation with a rated thermal input exceeding 50 MW;
- 3.5: Installation to manufacturing ceramic products;
- 5.4: Landfills receiving more than 10 tons per day or with a total capacity exceeding
25.000 tons;
- 2.6: installations for surface treatment of metals and plastic materials;
- 6.1; Industrial plants for the production of pulp from timber or other fibrous materials
and paper and board with a production capacity exceeding 20 tons per day.
The objective of the Content of Authorization Analysis was to compare the content of
permits for the industrial sectors mentioned, and to highlight the differences in the


124
environmental management prescriptions and requirements related to the several
environmental aspects. This objective has been performed analyzing a representative
sample of permits, as illustrated in the next paragraphs.
5. Result of the analysis phase of the MED IPPC NET project
The Analysis carried out through the MED IPPC NET project has taken into account many
aspects of the implementation of the IPPC Directive in the seven regions participating to the
project. In this paragraph we highlight some interesting results derived from the
Interregional Analysis (the Analysis that has allowed to compare results about the IPPC
implementation among the seven regions). In particular, we included some results of the
four Analyses which compose the Interregional Analysis report: Legislative, Administrative,
Control and Inspection System and Content of Authorizations.
5.1 Legislative analysis
As outlined in paragraph 4, the Legislative Analysis aimed to analyze how the IPPC Directive
has been implemented in the legislative framework. In the following paragraph, we consider
the results obtained by implementing the Directive regulatory framework in the seven regions,
by the Competent Authorities for issuing the Integrated Environmental Authorization, and the
modalities to assure the access to information and public participation.
5.1.1 The implementation of the IPPC Directive in the seven regions participating to
the project
In the four European Member States involved in the MED IPPC NET project, the IPPC
Directive has been implemented by specific national laws. In some regions also regional and
local laws regarding specific aspects linked to the IPPC have been enacted.
In Spain the IPPC Directive has been implemented through the national law 16/2002 on
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control. Besides, also two royal decrees have been
enacted: the first one (the decree 508/2007) concerned the regulation for the information
supply on emissions on Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), and the integrated
environmental authorizations; the second one (decree 509/2007) deals with the regulation of
development and execution of national law 16/2002. The regional law 7/2007 implemented
the Spanish national law about IPPC in Andalusia.
The Region of Valencia also applies a regional law (2/2006), enacted by the Generalitat
Valenciana, on pollution prevention and environmental quality. In particular, the objective
of this law is to define and regulate the instruments of environmental administrative
intervention for those activities likely to affect security, health or environment. It established
an Annex II for new categories of activities that must also obtain the Integrated
Environmental Authorization. Additionally, the regional decree 127/2006, from the Valencia
Council, concerns rules about the development and the execution of law 2/2006.
The IPPC Directive was implemented in Italy in August 4
th
1999 by the national legislative
decree n 372 that disciplined, for the first time in Italy, the issuing of the Integrated
Environmental Authorization according to IPPC criteria. Consequently, the legislative
decree 59/2005
2
replaced the first one. There are also other decrees in Italy that discipline

2
On 29th June 2010 the decree n. 59/2005 has been repealed by the legislative decree n. 128/2010. This
latter integrates the IPPC within the legislative decree n. 152/2006.


125
some aspects of the IPPC: the redefinition of the National Competent Authorities on the
issuing of the Integrated Environmental Authorization; the technical and administrative
documents to submit for the permitting procedure about the issuing of permits; the
institution of a national IPPC Commission with the function to supply support to the
definition, the updating and the integration of BAT national guidelines; the modalities also
accounting and the fares to apply in connection with the preliminary inquires and controls
provided by the national legislative decree n. 59/05. As regards regional laws, in Piedmont
the resolution of the Regional Council (July 29, 2002) confirmed in the provinces the
Competent Authorities to grant, renewal and review of IPPC permit
3
.
Also in Tuscany the Regional resolution n. 61 adopted in December 22
nd
2003 identified as
IPPC Competent Authorities the ten Tuscan Provinces (Firenze, Prato, Pistoia, Pisa, Massa
Carrara, Livorno, Siena, Arezzo, Grosseto, Lucca), and one Circondario (Circondario
Empolese Valdelsa).
In respect to the ministerial decree 24/4/2008
4
on the fares to apply in connection with the
preliminary inquires and controls provided by the national legislative decree, both in
Piedmont and Tuscany there are more regional resolutions about this matter. They contain a
general decrease of national rates, the administrative resolution on the advances of expenses
for the preliminary examination on issuing the Integrated Environmental Authorization, the
adaptation and the integration of fares to be applied according to the ministerial decree.
In Tuscany other regional resolutions are applied such as, for example, the n. 151 of
February 23
rd
2004 that sets up the Coordination Technical Committee and the decree n.
1285 of March 10
th
2004 concerning the appointment of the Coordination Technical
Committee members.
In Sicily a Guideline document to drafting, monitor and control a plan to set up IPPC
tools has been prepared (reference document with the minimum information to be included
into the Control and Monitoring Plan
5
), jointly with the ARTA Sicily Decree 12/08/2004
(GURS 36/04) approving the procedures for the application of the permit.
In West Macedonia the IPPC Directive has been implemented at national level by law
3010/2002 that amended the basic Environmental Greek Law (L.1650/1986) to be
harmonized with the European Directives 96/61 and 97/11. Moreover, two ministerial
decisions have been adopted (CMD.15393/2332/2002 and CMD 11014/703/104/2003).
The subject of these two decisions is the adjustment of the environmental authorization
procedure of activities included in the Annex I of the Directive. Besides, these activities are
being categorized in relation of their impact on the environment.
Finally, Slovenia has implemented the IPPC Directive with two acts: the Environmental
Protection Act (ZVO-1; Official Gazette of the RS, no. 41/04), and the decree on activities
and installations causing large-scale environmental pollution (IPPC Decree, Official Gazette
of the RS, no. 97/04). We shall also consider the following regulations: the two Decrees
amending the Decree on activities and installations causing large-scale environmental
pollution (Official Gazette of the RS, n. 71/07 and n. 122/07), and two additional regulations
on reporting to the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR).

3
Once the operator of the installation presented an application to obtain the permit the Competent
Authority issues the permit.
4
Since the national decree n. 59/05 has been repelled by the legislative decree n. 128/2010, also the
decree 24/4/2008 will be repelled in next months with a new one.
5
This document should be filled in by the operator of the installation and should be presented jointly
with the application to obtain the permit.


126
The table below indicates the kind of legislation that implemented the IPPC Directive in
each of the participant regions.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE IPPC DIRECTIVE IN THE SEVEN REGIONS
State Spain Slovenia Greece Italy
Total
Region Andaluca Valencia Slovenia
West
Macedonia
Piedmont Sicily Tuscany
National laws
and/or other
national
regulations/acts
X X X X X X X 7
Regional law
and/or other
local laws
X X - - X X X 5
Table 1. Implementation of the IPPC Directive in the seven regions.
5.1.2 Competent authorities in the granting of the integrated environmental
authorization
Another main aspect analysed is the type of Competent Authorities in charge of issuing the
Integrated Environmental Authorization. In particular, the Analysis revealed that in some of
the seven regions involved in the project these Authorities are provincial or regional, while
in others they are ministerial or national ones.
In the case of the Region of Andalusia, the Competent Authorities are Provincial
Delegations of the Department of Environment (Provincial Delegations are in Seville,
Huelva, Cdiz, Crdoba, Mlaga, Granada, Jan y Almera). The territorial jurisdiction is
determined by the location of the plant. When the plant serves more than one province, the
competent Directorate General for Environmental Prevention and Control within the
Department of Environment, will instruct and follow through with the proceedings, except
when it delegates such competencies to one of the Provincial Delegations.
In Tuscany and Piedmont the regional governments have delegated to provinces the
competence for permit issue. The ten Tuscan Provinces are: Firenze, Prato, Pistoia, Pisa,
Massa Carrara, Livorno, Siena, Arezzo, Grosseto and Lucca, besides the Circondario
Empolese Valdelsa has also been appointed as Competent Authority. In Piedmont the eight
provinces are: Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Torino, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola,
Vercelli. For both regions (and also in Sicily), the Ministry of Environment is the Competent
Authority in the place of provinces (or instead of the Region in the case of Sicily) when
provided by the national law that implemented the IPPC Directive. In fact, in Sicily the
whole process of permit release is under the responsibility of the Service II SEA-IEA
(Regional Department of Territory and Environment). The Italian Regional Agencies for the
Environmental Protection (ARPA) are involved in permit process, particularly in respect to
the evaluation of the control and monitoring plan (PMC), included in every Integrated
Environmental Authorizations application.
In Valencia, the Competent Authorities in charge of permit processing depend upon the
type of activities performed. For those activities included in the Annex I of the regional law
6

(Annex I of the IPPC Directive) the CA is the Environment, Water, Town Planning and
Housing Department of the Valencian Government (Conselleria de Medio Ambiente, Agua,

6
Regional law n. 2/2006


127
Urbanismo y Vivienda de la Generalitat Valenciana), through its General Office of Climate
Change (Direccin General para el Cambio Climtico). For those activities included in the
Annex II of the same regional law, the Competent Authorities are the provincial Offices
(Direcciones Territoriales for the 3 provinces: Alicante, Castelln, Valencia) of Environment,
Water, Town Planning and Housing Department of the Valencian Government. The
activities included in this latter Annex II are similar to those included in the Annex I of the
law, but with lower production capacity.
In the case of West Macedonia the law establishes that the Competent Authorities are the
Ministry of Environment Energy and Climate Change and the Direction of Environment and
Development, Department of Environment and Land-Planning of the Region of West
Macedonia (Prefectures of Kozani, Kastoria, Grevena and Florina). In reality, the permits
examined within the scope of the project have all been issued by the Ministry because the
region did not authorise any IPPC plant at the time of the analysis. The jurisdiction between
Ministry and Region is determined by the production ability of the installation
7
.
In Slovenia the Competent Authorities are national: the Ministry of Environment and Spatial
Planning, and the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARSO). ARSO
performs professional, analytical, regulatory and administrative tasks in the field of
environment nationally, it contributes to solving environmental problems as far as possible
with the implementation of environmental legislation and keeps records of emissions,
manages and monitors the implementation of remedial programs and seeks comprehensive
solutions to the problems regarding climate change. Particularly, ARSO pays attention to
raising public awareness on the environment and on environmental issues. Likewise,
Slovenia set up a nation-wide special expert group established under the IPPC Directive,
consisting of acting inspectors depending on the technological processes. The
Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARSO) cooperates with the Inspectorate
of the Republic of Slovenia for Environment and Spatial Planning (IRSOP) in the field of
control of administrative decisions, since the IRSOP is responsible to supervise all
environmental legislation adopted by the Parliament, the Government or the Ministry.
We summarized in the following table the Competent Authorities for the Integrated
Environmental Authorizations:

COMPETENT AUTHORITY/IES FOR THE PERMITTING PROCEDURE OF THE INTEGRATED
ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORIZATION
Total
West
Macedonia
National
Competent
Authority
X X X X X 5
Regional
Competent
Authority
X X X 3
Provincial
Competent
Authority
X X X X 4
Table 2. Competent Authority/ies for the permitting procedure of the Integrated
Environmental Authorization.

7
CMD 15393/2332/2002 and CMD11014/703/104/2003.


128
5.1.3 The modalities to assure access to information and public participation in the
permitting procedure for issuing the Integrated Environmental Authorization
The primary method to ensure access to information and public participation in the
permitting procedure in all regions is represented by the publication of some information
(e.g. in newspapers, bulletins, etc.).
In Italy, according to the national decree that implemented the IPPC Directive, the
Competent Authority identifies the offices where to record the proceedings for public
consultation. Moreover, it provides that the operator publishes an advertisement for the
public in a provincial, regional or national newspaper. Anyone can have access to a copy of
the issued IPPC permits, and to any relating document in a public office, as determined by
the Competent Authorities. The Competent Authority shall make available to the public the
data provided by the operator relating to emission controls required by integrated
environmental authorization. The results of the monitoring of emissions, required by permit
conditions and held by the Competent Authority, should be available to the public. The
legislative decree n. 195 adopted on 19
th
August 2005 implementing the European
Directive 2003/4/CE - disciplines public access to environmental information. On the one
hand, this decree establishes terms, fundamental conditions and modalities to exert public
access; on the other hand, it guarantees that the environmental information is at public
disposal and it is disseminated accordingly. Moreover, when the Competent Authority
informs a business company about the beginning date of the procedure, the operator should
publish an announcement containing information on the plant at provincial, regional or
national media outlets.
In Valencia the Competent Authority submits the permit application along with the
required documentation for public information procedure, within a minimum period of 30
days, by publishing it in the Official Diary of the Valencian Government, as well as in the
relevant City Hall bulletin board. Its public dissemination (notification to neighbours, record
of submitted documentation in CA offices) is therefore allowed, except for that data
considered to be confidential. At the end of the procedure it also publishes the resolution of
the permit, to which it is possible to make objections within a period of 30 days. In
compliance with the principle of access to information relating to the environment, citizens
can consult the emissions of specific pollutants of IPPC installations in the PRTR, and the
content of the permit issued.
In Andalusia the procedure of information and public participation for the Integrated
Environmental Authorization falls at national level under the jurisdiction of the Autonomous
Communities establishing only a minimum period of public information (30 days) - as in the
case of Valencia -. Once the competent body verifies the project compatibility to the
environmental regulations, it renders the Integrated Environmental Authorization available
for public consultation and formulation of the relevant declarations, by including its
advertisement in the Official Bulletin of the Government of Andalusia (Oficial de la Junta de
Andaluca) (for 45 days), and through personal notification to the immediate neighbourhoods
of the place where the activity is located (for 30 days). Following these terms, the competent
body will remit all annexes and comments received to the requesting entity in charge of the
Integrated Environmental Authorization, to the State body responsible for granting public
permits in the field of maritime-terrestrial competences, and to the regional body responsible
for granting the substantive permit, that can be declared within 15 days.
In West Macedonia the competent Service of Environment of the Ministry of Environment
Energy and Climate Change or the Region that has been granted the study, prior to
approving the environmental procedure, conveys a copy to the Prefectural Council within a
ten days period. Subsequently, the Prefectural Council has five days to publish the study in


129
at least one local newspaper, and to disseminate it publicly (within 30 days) for information,
to allow the public opinion to share objections on its content.
In Slovenia the national legislation guarantees the access to information and public
participation in the permitting procedure through many tools, as for example: an IPPC
website, by organizing training cycles, seminars, workshops for operators of installations,
specialized publications, public debates and round tables, public presentations to explaining
the procedures for issuing the permit (application form, etc.).
The table below includes the main modalities adopted by each participating region to assure
the access to information and public participation in the permitting procedure.

MAIN MODALITIES ADOPTED TO ASSURE THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION IN THE PERMITTING PROCEDURE
Total
West
Macedonia
Record of document
in specific offices
X X X X 4
Advertisement
publication in
newspaper/
other publication
about IPPC matter
X X X X 4
Publication of permit
and other documents
in the Official Diary
of Government
and/or in
City/Government
bulletin
X X 2
Publication of
emissions of specific
pollutants of IPPC
installations in the
Pollutant Release and
Transfer Register
X 1
Personal notification
to neighbors
X X 2
Publication of
statement in the
Table of Statements
of the Prefecture
X 1
IPPC portal on
website
X X 2
Training/
seminars/workshops
for operators of
installations and
Public debates and
round tables
X X 2

Table 3. Main modalities adopted by regions to assure the access to information and public
participation in the permitting procedure.


130
5.2 Administrative analysis
The Administrative Analysis focuses essentially on the procedure for granting the permit in
the seven regions of the project. As previously assessed for the legislative analysis, also in
this case we identify some of the resulting elements, such as the nature of the institutions
involved in the first issuing for new and existing installations, the content of documents to
be submitted within the Integrated Environmental Authorizations, the time envisaged for
the issuing of the Integrated Environmental Authorization, and the simplified rules and
regulations within the permitting procedure for particular categories of enterprises.
5.2.1 Institutions involved in the first issue for new and existing installations
The institutions involved in the permitting procedure for the permit issuing are more
similar among the seven regions, in regards to content and object of the documents.
However, in most of them are some institutions always participate in the permitting
procedure, while some are present only in some cases.
In Tuscany and in Piedmont, for example, the institutions involved in the permitting
procedure are: the Municipality, the Local Health Authority and the Environmental
Protection Regional Agency, while the Regional Administration, the waters managers, the
Basin Authority
8
and the fire department are sometimes present. In both regions the waste
and sewage system competent authorities, the ATO
9
, the Basin Authority and, in the case of
permit that should be issued for landfills, the superintendent can also be part of the process.
In the case of Piedmont, public stakeholders can be part of it. In Tuscany the opinions of the
above-mentioned institutions are generally not binding, but in the permitting procedure
these latter tend to comply to them. In Piedmont the opinions of the municipality and the
province are always binding, those of the regional administration is binding only for some
sectors, while the opinions of the other institutions are not binding.
In Sicily the opinion of the municipality, province, regional administration, local health
authority, of the Provincial Committee for Environmental Protection (CPTA) and of the
Ministry of Environment and Protection of territory (or in case of national Integrated
Environmental Authorization process, the Ministry of Environment) are binding. On the
contrary, for the following involved institutions the opinion is not binding: Regional
Agencies for Environmental Protection, Regional Agencies for waste and water, the waste
management ATO, Departments responsible for water, air, etc. In Andalusia the institutions
participating in the permitting procedure are: the Municipality, the Regional Department of
Environment, the State Environmental Body, the Water Basin Entity. Their opinions are
binding. In Valencia the Environment, Water, Town Planning and Housing Department of
the Valencia Government (EWTPH) has set up the Integrated Environmental Analysis
Commission, a body whose representatives are one from each administration/institution
involved in the permitting procedure. The institutions and organisations that are always
involved in this Commission are: the IPPC Service of EWTPH, the Waste Service of EWTPH,
the Environmental impact Service of EWTPH, the Air Service of EWTPH, the Water Service
of EWTPH, the Basin authority, the Clean Technologies Centre of EWTPH. This

8
The Basin Authority is an institution aiming to safeguard the whole catchment basins. It was
established by the national law n. 183/1999.
9
The ATO is an institution of control and guidance, competent for the management of the water service,
sewerage and waste. It was established by the national law n. 36/1994.


131
Commission is similar to the Italian one (called Meeting of Public Services) in its
composition and activities. As in the case of Tuscany and Valencia also for West Macedonia
there are some institutions that are always involved in the permitting procedure, and others
that are present from time to time. The Special Service of Environment of the Ministry of
Environment Energy and Climate Change, the Direction of Planning of the Ministry of
Environment Energy and Climate Change, the Department of Environment of the Ministry
of Environment Energy and Climate Change and the Region, the Prefectural Department of
Environment, the Prefect and the Council for Public Information, belong to the first
category. The Relative to the Investment Ministries, the Regional Department of Forests, the
Regional Department of Waters, the Revenue of Antiquities, the Prefectural Departments of
Agriculture and of Health belong to the second one. The opinions of all institutions are
binding but not defined by law, the Competent Authority has the final decision but in
almost all the cases it takes into account the remarks of the authorities involved.
In Slovenia there is a sole institution involved in the permitting procedure is the Ministry of
Environment and Spatial Planning, Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia. Its
opinion is binding.
The table 4 indicates the institutions involved in the first issue of the permit for new and
existing installations, in the seven regions of the project.

MAIN INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED IN THE PERMITTING PROCEDURE
Total
West
Macedonia
National
institution
X X X X* X* X* 6
Regional
institution
X X X X X 5
Local
institution
X X X X X 5
Specific public
institution (e.g.
basin
authority)
X X X X X X 6
Other technical
public
departments
(e.g. fireman)
X X X X X 5
Public health
and safety
authority
X X X X 4
Bearers of
collective
interests
X X 2
* In Italian regions the national institution is involved when Ministry is the Competent Authority for the
permit issue.
Table 4. Main institutions involved in the permitting procedure


132
5.2.2 Time forecast to issuing the Integrated Environmental Authorization
In Italy the time frame to issuing the permitting procedure for new and existing installations
is established by the legislative decree 152/2006. In particular, within 30 days from the
application for permit receipt, the Competent Authority communicates to the operator the
starting date of the proceeding. Within 15 days from the receipt of communication, the
operator publishes an announcement on the plant features. Further, within 30 days from the
publication of the announcement, the interested parties can present observations.
Subsequently, if there is compliance with the requirements of the decree 152/2006, the
Competent Authorities may issue the permit within 150 days from the application; or in the
case of no-compliance they deny the permit. However, in case of particular/relevant
environmental impacts and of the complexity and/or national interest of a plant, specific
agreements can be concluded. In this case, the 150 days timeframe is replaced with a 300
days timeframe. In Andalusia the deadline for granting the permit is of 10 months from the
submission of the application. After this period without receiving the notification of any
special resolution, the application can be rejected. In this case, the proceedings under the
Integrated Environmental Authorization shall not become the subject neither of Municipal
License, nor of substantive authorizations. In Valencia the permitting procedure begins with
a public information phase, followed by a sector-based report to the concerned competent
administrations and institutions requested by the Competent Authority that calls the IPPC
operator for an audience. Closer to the end of the procedure, the Competent Authority
carries out an environmental assessment of the IPPC activity which will take into account all
factors involved in it, therefore completing the process by issuing a resolution containing all
the constraints that the activity must comply for their exploitation. The resolution is then
notified to the operator and published in the Official Diary of the Government of Valencia.
As it happens in Andalusia, also in Valencia the maximum period for completing the
permitting procedure is 10 months. This deadline is valid for the activities included in the
Annex I of the regional law. For those activities included in the Annex II of the regional law,
the deadline is 8 months. In Slovenia once a company has presented all the required
documents, the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia may require further
clarification. The presentation of them allows the Environmental Agency to prepare of a
consensus and the public presentation of application, leading to the issuing of the permit.
For the issuing of new permits, the deadline is set in 7 months, while for the existing
installations the term of the permitting procedure is not determined. However, in the case of
West Macedonia, once the Competent Authority judges that the documents presented are
complete, it transmits them to the relevant consultative authorities within 10 days that can
request additional data and clarifications of the investor in the following 15 days. Within 5
days from the interval of 15 days, the Competent Authority approves or denies the Pro-EIA.
In West Macedonia first of all is realised an initially study called Pro-EIA where interested
submits application to the responsible authority that is accompanied by file which contains 6
copies of the study with technical and administrative information. The approval and the
Pro-EIA documents are transmitted to the Prefectural Council for public information, and
within 30 days it is possible to formulate opinions and objections regarding the project. In
order to receive the Environmental authorization, the investor submits a documented
application accompanied by the 6 copies of EIA, including the approval of Pro-EIA. In case
the competent authority judges the documents incomplete, it can ask for additional
supporting information within 10 days, otherwise it transmits it within 10 days to the
competent consultative authorities, jointly with the prefectural observations. These latter


133
should provide a final recommendation within 35 days, following this period of time, the
Competent Authority has 15 days to approve or deny the EIA. Finally, the EIA approval is
transmitted to the Prefectural Council for public information. If the entire documentation is
complete the authorisation is granted within a maximum period of 90 days. This interval
can be extended for another 90 days for peculiar cases. The table below indicates times for
Integrated Environmental Authorization issuing.

TIMES FOR THE FIRST ISSUING FOR INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORIZATION
NEW AND EXISTING INSTALLATIONS
Total
West
Macedonia
From 5 to
10 months
X X X X 4
7 months X** 1
8 months X* 1
10 months X X* 2
* Times depend by activity typology
** for new installations
Table 5. Times for the first Integrated Environmental Authorization issuing for new and
existing installations
5.2.3 The simplifications in the permitting procedure for particular categories of
enterprises
In most regions (Andalusia, Valencia, Tuscany, Piedmont and Sicily), laws provide
simplified permit procedures for particular categories of enterprises.
In Spain the royal decree 509/2007 provided a simplified procedure to apply for an IPPC
Permit for Farming Installations, as referred to in category 9.3 of the Law 16/2002 (paragraph
6.6 of the Directive 96/61/EC) for the documentation
10
to be included in the basic project that
accompanies the request of Integrated Environmental Authorization. Additionally, this decree
grants Autonomous Regions the permission to establish measures simplifying the mechanisms
used to verify the fulfilment of the conditions envisaged by the IPPC permit for those facilities
that apply an Environmental Management System (as per the requirements established by
International Standard UNE-EN ISO 14001 - International Organization for Standardization-
and/or Regulation EMAS- Eco-Management and Audit Scheme -).
In Valencia the regional decree 127/2006 establishes that for the renewal of the Integrated
Environmental Authorization, jointly to the application the owner shall submit a certificate
stating the environmental assessment adequacy of the facility to the existing environmental
legislation. This adequacy will be certified by an Environmental Quality Collaborating
Entity. Given that the EMAS register requires a yearly assessment/audit of compliance with
the environmental legislation, if an IPPC company adhered to EMAS it is not necessary to
submit the certificate for the renewal of the application. By consequence, the facility or
activity will be in accordance to the current environmental constraints/legislation.

10
Annex II of the Royal Decree 509/2007.


134
In Piedmont, in Sicily and in Tuscany some of the provided simplifications are laid out by
the legislative decree n. 59/05:
- If at the moment of issuing the permit a plant is registered according to the CE
Regulation n. 1221/2009 (EMAS), the renewal of the Integrated Environmental
Authorization is filled in every eight years (usually, it is a five years renewal). If the
registration according to the CE Regulation n. 1221/2009 (EMAS) comply to the
authorization, the renewal is carried out every eight years starting from the first
following renewal.
- If at the moment of issuing the permit a plant is certified according to the Regulation
UNI EN ISO 14001, the renewal of the Integrated Environmental Authorization is filled
in every six years. If the certification according to the Regulation UNI EN ISO 14001
comply to the authorization, the renewal is carried out every six years starting from the
first following renewal.

MAIN SIMPLIFICATIONS IN THE PERMITTING PROCEDURE FOR PARTICULAR
CATEGORIES OF ENTERPRISES
Total
West
Macedonia
Any simplification X X 2
Simplification of
documents to
submit in order to
obtain permit for
farming installations
X X 2
Simplification about
documents to
submit for
installations
registered EMAS
X 1
Simplification in
inspection control
activities in facilities
registered EMAS or
certified ISO 14001
X X 2
Longer validity of
permit enterprises
registered EMAS or
certified ISO 14001
X X X 3
Reduction of fares
for enterprises
registered EMAS or
certified ISO 14001
X X X 3
Table 6. Main simplifications in the permitting procedure for particular categories of
enterprises.
According to article 5 of the decree n. 59/05, if the information and the descriptions
provided comply to the Regulation UNI EN ISO 14001, or the data provided for the


135
registered sites comply to the Regulation CE n. 1221/2009 (EMAS), and if any other
information is in compliance with the overall rules, particularly with one or more of the
requirements set in the Integrated Environmental Authorization application, these can be
applied for the registration of the Integrated Environmental Authorization application.
The Italian ministerial decree adopted in April 24
th
2008 (decree about fares) provided other
simplifications: one reads that the installations registered according to the CE Regulation n.
1221/2009 (EMAS), can be granted reduced fares between 1.000 up to 8.000 euro; whilst
another provides that for the installations certified according to the Regulation UNI EN ISO
14001, the reduction is granted between 500 and 5.000 euro.
Slovenia and West Macedonia do not provide for simplifications in the permitting
procedure for particular categories of enterprises.
The Table 6 summarizes main simplifications in the permitting procedure for particular
categories of enterprises.
5.3 Control and inspection system analysis
The primary scope of this Analysis is to assess the system of Control and Inspection carried
out in those facilities applying an Integrated Environmental Authorization. In the following
paragraphs some of the elements resulting from this analysis are outlined.
5.3.1 The Competent Authorities appointed for the inspections and control
procedures in the regions
The Competent Authorities for inspections and controls are regional for the most regions,
while are national in few cases.
In Andalusia the General Direction of Environmental Prevention and Quality of the
Regional Government for Environment of Andalusia, is competent for drafting various
Sector Plans on Environmental Inspections. In Valencia the Competent Authorities for
control and inspection are: the IPPC Service - belonging to the Environment, Water, Town
Planning and Housing Department of the Government of Valencia -, and the Environmental
Quality Collaborating Entities (EQCE) duly authorized and recognized in the IPPC industry.
Their technical competences are certified by the Spanish Accreditation Entity, and they are
registered in the Valencia Register of EQCE (managed by the Clean Technologies Centre).
There are 10 accredited EQCE in Valencia. In most of the installations, the inspections are
being carried out by the EQCE. In Italy the legislative decree n. 59/05 states that the Agency
for Environmental Protection and Technical Services (ISPRA), for facilities under State
jurisdiction, or the regional and provincial environmental protection agencies, are the
Competent Authorities for controls and inspections. In Italy for example there is a regional
agency in each region (Environmental Protection Regional Agency), but in each province there
is also a local department having a supervisory role. In this way the provincial departments
guarantees the knowledge of the local reality although there is a risk to overlapping or of
differing approaches. In Sicily, in the case of landfills, the Competent Authority for the
release of permits (Service II SEA-IEA, Regional Department of Territory and Environment),
let the agency ARPA make a testing visit coordinated with the Provinces, to value the
compliance to the permit requirements. In West Macedonia and Slovenia the situation is
different from the previous regions. In the former region there are several Authorities
involved in controls, in the latter one the Control Authority is national. Specifically, in West
Macedonia the Competent Authorities responsible for the inspection procedure can be


136
divided into those who inspect the enterprises during the permitting procedure, and those
tasked of the ongoing renewal of permits. In Slovenia the inspections are carried out by the
inspection service under the control program adopted for three years. The table-summary
indicates the main Competent Authorities for the control and inspection procedure.

MAIN COMPETENT AUTHORITIES DESIGNATED FOR THE CONTROL AND INSPECTION
PROCEDURE
Total
West
Macedonia
National
Competent
Authorities
X X X 3
Regional
Competent
Authorities
X X - X X X X 6
Table 7. Main Competent Authorities designated for the control and inspection procedure.
5.3.2 Most frequently non-compliances identified
The most non-compliances identified during the inspections in the seven regions are
indicated below:

THE MOST FREQUENTLY NON-COMPLIANCES IDENTIFIED
Total
West
Macedonia
Non compliance ELVs X X X 3
Non regular data
transmission
X X X X 4
Non compliance with
requirements
contained in permit
X X X X X X 6
Dissimilarity from the
management of
measuring
instruments (incorrect
positioning,
operation, calibration,
maintenance of
instruments)
X X X X 4
Table 8. The most frequently non-compliances identified


137
In most of the regions, the main non-compliance characteristics that have emerged when
monitoring deal with the requirements contained in the permit, while the non conformity
with Emission Limit Values has been indicated by a lower number of regions.
5.4 Content of authorization analysis
The Content of authorizations analysis was made possible by the study of a sample of IPPC
Integrated Environmental Authorizations of four IPPC sectors, according to the activities
listed in the annex I of the IPPC Directive:
1.1: Combustion installation with a rated thermal input exceeding 50 MW;
3.5: Installation for the manufacture of ceramic products;
5.4: Landfills receiving more than 10 tonnes per day or with a total capacity exceeding
25.000 tonnes;
2.6: Installations for surface treatment of metals and plastic materials;
6.1: Industrial plants for the production of pulp from timber or other fibrous materials
and paper and board with a production capacity exceeding 20 tonnes per day.
The aim of the Content of Authorization analysis was the comparison of Integrated
Environmental Authorizations within the industrial sectors of the seven regions involved in
the project, to highlight differences as to the management of environmental prescriptions
and requirements. The sample of Integrated Environmental Authorizations analysed for the
MED IPPC NET project, with the indication of the number of permits analysed by each
region for each IPPC sector, is indicated in the following table:

Region
Number of IPPC permits analyzed
Combustion
plants
(1.1)
Ceramics
(3.5)
Landfills
(5.4)
Surface treatment
of metals and
plastic materials
(2.6)
Paper
production
(6.1)
TOTAL
Andalusia 8 8 8 8 0 32
Valencia 4 8 7 8 0 27
Slovenia 7 8 1 8 0 24
West
Macedonia
2 2 3 1 0 8
Piedmont 19 24 21 0 15 79
Sicily 1 0 6 1 0 8
Tuscany 5 13 16 0 13 47
TOTAL 46 63 62 26 28 225
Table 9. Sample of Integrated Environmental Authorizations analysed in the Content of
Authorizations Analysis.
Every partner has collected a high number of Integrated Environmental Authorizations. In
any case it is important to highlight the work carried out by Piedmont, which collected 79
permits, i.e. about 80% of the total permits issued in its region in the four sectors covered by
the project.


138
About 60% of the sample is represented by permits from Italy, followed by the Spanish
regions with about 27% of analysed permits.
As to targets, the methodology envisages three fixed sectors: combustion plants,
ceramics, landfills. All partners had to analyze these three sectors. For the fourth sector
each partner was allowed to choose between Surface treatment of metals and plastic
materials or Paper production. The partners from Tuscany and Piedmont chose the
paper production sector due to its relevance in the two regions, while the other partners
selected the sector Surface treatment of metals and plastic materials.

Fig. 1. Percentage of Integrated Environmental Authorizations analysed for each IPPC sector
of the project.
Ceramics and landfills are the IPPC sectors most represented in the Analysis. The highest
number of Authorisations for these two sectors was collected in Tuscany and Piedmont. The
three fixed sectors (combustion plants, ceramics, landfills) are fully represented by permits
of each region, which means that at least one permit was collected in each region involved in
the project.

Fig. 2. Percentage of Integrated Environmental Authorizations analysed by regions.


139
5.4.1 The requirements and conditions indicated in the permits to protect from
contamination of soil and groundwater
The permits require the highest possible frequency of controls and prescribe the protection
of contamination of soil and groundwater, by means of measures for the storage of
chemicals. In many cases the permits require a containment basin for the storage or
prescribe a spillage kit.
Being an expensive activity, the requirement about monitoring the quality of groundwater is
particularly significant, and as can be expected it is imposed most of all to landfills.

Requirements about protection of contamination of soil and groundwater
Region Andalusia Valencia Slovenia
West
Macedonia
Preliminary Report on the
soil
43,8% 0,0% 58,3% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0%
Storage of chemical products 37,5% 92,6% 100,0% 100,0% 54,4% 12,5% 19,1%
Spill walls 15,6% 3,7% 0,0% 100,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0%
Draining and collection
system
15,6% 0,0% 100,0% 100,0% 54,4% 12,5% 8,5%
Proofs of leakage detection
and watertight
12,5% 3,7% 100,0% 0,0% 5,1% 0,0% 0,0%
Communication/information
of some aspects
0,0% 14,8% 100,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 6,4%
Control/analysis/monitoring
of groundwater
3,1% 18,5% 0,0% 100,0% 25,3% 62,5% 14,9%
Monitoring of ground-water
level
3,1% 0,0% 0,0% 100,0% 25,3% 0,0% 10,6%
Table 10. Requirements indicated in the permits about protection of contamination of soil
and groundwater (disaggregate data for regions).

Fig. 3. Requirements and conditions to protect from contamination of soil and groundwater
(aggregate data for regions).


140
Another relevant requirement is related to the draining and collection system contained in
37,8% of permits.
In the table 10 the same requirements are classified according to an interregional
perspective.
The measures related to the monitoring of groundwater are mostly contained in the permits
of Piedmont and West Macedonia. The need to submit a preliminary report on the soil is
only required in Andalusia and Slovenia. The measures related to the storage of chemical
products is the only requirement identified in at least 1 permit of each region. The other
requirements show at least one region without frequency.
5.4.2 The emission limit values related to water emissions
The table below indicates the Emission Limit Values in the four IPPC sectors analyzed
(Ceramics -3.5-, Landfills -5.4-, Surface treatment of metals and plastic materials -2.6-, Paper
production -6.1-) for which the destinations of industrial water emissions are the same
(surface water and sewer), to compare limits among the seven regions of the project.

Emission Limit Values related to industrial water emissions for Ceramics (3.5), Landfills (5.4),
Surface treatment of metals and plastic materials (2.6), Paper production (6.1) (with data of number
of permits)
Destination Surface water Sewer
Pollutants
(mg/l)
COD TSS Sulphates COD TSS Sulphates
Andalusia
n.a. (not
available)
n.a. n.a.
160 (2)
1550 (2)
30 (2)
35 (1)
42,5 (1)
800 (2)
400 (1)
800 (3)
Valencia 125 (2) 60 (2)
250 (1)
400 (1)
1000 (1) 500 (2) n.a.
Slovenia
100 (3)
120 (2)
150 (2)
500 (1)
268 (1)
80 (9)
3000 (3)
1900 (1)
1187 (1)
n.a.
80 (2)
100 (1)
400 (1)
300 (1)
350 (1)
600 (2)
900 (1)
500 (1)
West
Macedonia
125 (3) 25 (3) 250 (3) n.a. n.a. n.a.
Piedmont 160 (20) 80 (20) 1000 (20)
500 (7)
700 (1)
200 (7)
700 (1)
1000 (8)
Sicily 160 (6) 80 (6) 1000 (6) 500 (6) 200 (6) 1000 (6)
Tuscany 160 (14) 80 (14) 1000 (14)
500 (7)
3000 (1)
200 (8) 1000 (8)
Table 11. Emission limit values related to industrial water emissions for all sectors
As for emissions flowing in surface water, Slovenia presents a high variability in the limits
imposed for COD. West Macedonia and Valencia have the same limit, lower than the limit
required by the permits of the Italian Regions. For TSS the permits show one limit applied in
each region. Slovenia and the Italian regions have the highest one (80 mg/l), while West
Macedonia applies the strictest one. The permits of West Macedonia confirm the lowest


141
level also for the Sulphates with a value of 250 mg/l applied in three permits. The permits of
companies from Slovenia include the highest limits for the same parameter achieving until a
limit of 3000 mg/l imposed in three Authorisations. For the water emissions in sewer the
limits change very much in the same region and among regions. One of the reasons could be
the presence of a purification plant at the end of the industrial sewer. Often, the company
responsible for the management of the purification plant can set the limits to be applied to
companies that are connected to the sewerage. These limits are often decided by taking into
account the characteristics of the purification plant and the number of connected companies.
Thus each Management Body of purification plant could apply different limits.
6. Strengths and weaknesses identified in the analysis
The Analysis carried out within the project, enhanced some strengths and some weaknesses
of the IPPC matter, most of which reflecting the opinions of the Competent Authorities that
issue the permits. One of the strengths of the Legislative Analysis, identified in Andalusia
and Piedmont, is represented by the introduction - through national laws that implemented
the IPPC Directive - of a single environmental permit which brings together all
environmental-related permits. According to the Competent Authorities, in Piedmont the
IPPC implementation has been a significant phase of reorganization and the introduction of
the companys monitoring and control plan is very important. In Tuscany a strength
highlighted by the Legislative Analysis is that the environment is perceived as global and
unique system that makes an integrated vision on enterprises activities possible. Another
strength identified in Tuscany is that the IPPC Directive makes enterprises more motivated
to achieve better work and activity levels also taking into account the environment
preservation. The coordination among the Competent Authorities for issuing the permits is
considered by West Macedonia, Sicily and Andalusia as a strength of the Legislative aspect
of the IPPC Directive.
As regards weaknesses, the Tuscan partners identified the considerable difference between
the IPPC Directive principles and the real environment of enterprises applying for IPPC
permit. So often the law adaptation to the firms and to the different situations is very
difficult. Moreover, according to the Tuscan partners, the enforcement of the Directive does
not take into account the complexity and the large number of environmental aspects to
manage. One strength emerging in Piedmont from the Administrative Analysis is that the
IPPC Directive enables companies to focus on the planning of future activities of
environmental improvement. Tuscany identified as a strength the new and different
conception of environmental authorizations that the Directive caused to companies and
public administration. In West Macedonia and Sicily, the existence of one single authority
responsible for administrative issues is considered a strength.
Finally, simplifications in the authorization procedure for livestock categories and
companies with environmental management systems are considered a positive factor in the
Valencia region. As regards weaknesses linked to the administrative permit procedure, all
regions see a problem in some delays in permit issue caused by several reasons. Delays are
due to late application of regulations (Slovenia); to failure to meet deadlines of the
Integrated Environmental Authorizations granting (West Macedonia and Andalusia); to the
increased workload due to the need for the permit itself (Piedmont); to the absence of a
deadline agenda for permit issuing (Tuscany); to the lack of human resources in the


142
Competent Authority organization, to the poor quality of the IPPC activity projects
submitted by the operators; to the administrations and institutions that sometimes fail to
meet deadlines in elaborating their reports (Valencia), and to the lack of authorities involved
in the conference cycle (Sicily). Linked to the above aspect, the lack of preparation of the
personnel of Competent Authorities, is a drawback for West Macedonia and Tuscany. There
are no training activities and insufficient personnel in the Competent Authorities. Another
weakness indicated by West Macedonia is the lack of exceptions or simplifications for
enterprises certified according to EMAS or ISO 14001:04.
Some strengths and weaknesses have been identified for the Control and Inspection System
Analysis as well. One positive aspect identified both by Andalusia and West Macedonia is
the existence of clear and detailed definitions in the guidelines for operational and
monitoring control and the measurement of environmental aspects in the Control and
Monitoring Plans of the Integrated Environmental Authorization. Moreover, some aspects
linked to the Competent Authorities in charge of controls and inspections are considered as
strengths by some regions. Valencia indicates as a positive element the technical competence
and the independence of the Environmental Quality Collaborating Entities, one of the
Control Competent Authorities in Valencia, while Andalusia identifies as a positive aspect
the appointment of a specific service to carry out the monitoring and inspection activities
defined in the Environmental Control and Monitoring Plans. Still on this aspect, Sicily
considers the existence of ARPA Provincial Department for each province a positive
element. In Piedmont the punctual and systematic control of all environmental components
is a positive aspect of the control system, but the difficulty in interpreting and
understanding the rules about IPPC is considered by this region as a weakness. In
Andalusia it is difficult to meet deadlines for the control and inspection activities listed in
the Control and Monitoring Plans of the Integrated Environmental Authorizations. For West
Macedonia a problem is the lack of specialized IPPC personnel and inspectors in control
authorities. The latter is a weakness also indicated by Piedmont.
7. Conclusion
According to European law, the directive binds the Member State only about the results to
obtain and leaves to its competence the way and the tools. Also, according to the
subsidiarity principle (art. 3 B Maastricht Treaty) the European Directives can bring some
differences in the implementation among the Member States. This Analysis aimed at
investigating how the IPPC Directive has been implemented and if the differences are able
to affect cost-related competitiveness of firms subjected to the IPPC Directive and located in
different Member States. Although this chapter only included a few results, it investigates
the differences in permit procedures and contents, control and inspection systems included
in the national and local legislative framework of the involved regions, in order to identify
methodologies and approaches to reduce these differences as a top priority for the next
phases of the MED IPPC NET Project.
To this aim, the results obtained from the Analysis phase of the project were elaborated and
assessed. As for the institutional analysis (legislative, administrative, control and inspection
and content of authorisations analysis), significant differences emerged in the different
regions. Among the most relevant issues, some concern the disparity of Competent
Authorities for the permit issue (national, regional or provincial Authority) or the main
modalities adopted by each region to assure the access to information and public


143
participation in the permit issuing procedure. The deadline for issuing the permit, as well as
the type of simplifications in the issuing procedure provided for specific categories of
enterprises, also vary among the seven regions involved in the project, and time is a crucial
factor for competitiveness. Most regions (and Countries) chose to enact some forms of
simplifications to favour companies that developed and certified an environmental
management system. One of the suggestions (that also relates to the duration of the permit),
is to try and standardize at least the favourable conditions granted to EMAS-registered
companies at the EU level. Many indications on the approach followed by the different
Competent Authorities were provided also by the analysis of the permits. This also
provided some insights on the differences among the investigated regions.
For example, the detailed analysis of specific requirements of different environmental
aspects outline a great distance between the approach chosen by the different Competent
Authorities, especially as to the typologies of requirements. From the Analysis of all these
aspects it is possible to specify some recommendations to improve the IPPC implementation
within Europe.
One of the most important is that the European Commission should promote national and
regional actions concerning activities oriented to harmonize contents and approaches
wherever there are many different Competent Authorities. It would be particularly useful to
create a permanent forum for the monitoring and the comparison of different
implementation modalities of the IPPC Directive, as it has been experimented within the
MED IPPC NET project. In this way, it could be possible to provide timely feedback and
suggestions to improve the whole system whenever these differences may cause excessive
problems for some of the member states or a failure in achieving the Directives goals.
Furthermore, to prevent disparities a standard model might be created at the European
level, in order to coordinate contents among different Competent Authorities and Member
States.
Another recommendation could attain the setting up and the promotion of more specific
and in-depth competences by training the personnel of competent and control authorities:
the IPPC requires a holistic vision and wide qualification in many different environmental
aspects to reach an integrated vision of environmental problems.
8. References
Barros., M.C., Magn, A., Valio, S., Bello, M.P., Casares, J.J. & Blanco, J.M. (2009).
Identification of Best Available Techniques in the seafood industry: case study.
Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 17, No. 3 , (February 2009), pp. 391-399.
Brchet, T. & Tulkens, H. (2009). Beyond BAT. Selecting optimal combinations of available
techniques, with an example from the limestone industry. Journal of Environmental
Management, Vol. 90, No. 5 , (April 2009), pp. 1790-1801.
Entek UK Limites, (January 2008). Assessment of the implementation of the IPPC Directive
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7
Contaminated Sites and Public Policies
in So Paulo State, Brazil
Ana Luiza Silva Spnola and Arlindo Philippi Jr.
School of Public Health, University of So Paulo
Brazil
1. Introduction
The existence of contaminated sites is an environmental issue that has been increasingly
detected by environmental authorities in Brazil, most specifically in the State of So Paulo.
The state government is in charge of the environmental management of contaminated sites
through its environmental agency, the Environmental Company of the State of So Paulo
[CETESB]
1
. Since the beginning of the 90s the agency carries out the systematic
management of these sites.
The environmental agency has pursued its own structuring to meet this growing demand,
enabling its effective action and finding solutions for this serious environmental problem.
Thus, since the beginning of the nineties, due to the German expertise and know-how
regarding this subject, a technical cooperation was established with the German
government, through its Technical Cooperation Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft fr
Technische Zusammenarbeit, GTZ), which encompasses both technical and financial
support. This cooperation allowed the development of a specific project in order to build the
capacity of the state agency for the management of contaminated sites (CETESB, 2011a).
The origin of contaminated sites is related to a lack of knowledge, back in time, about safe
procedures for the handling of hazardous substances, to the disrespect of such procedures
and to accidents or spillings during the development of production processes,
transportation or storage of raw materials and products (CETESB, 2011b).
According to CETESB (2011a) the soil and underground water contamination have been
the focus of great concern for the last three decades in the industrialized countries, mainly in
the USA and Europe. This environmental problem becomes more serious in urban industrial
centres such as the Metropolitan Region of So Paulo.
The State of So Paulo has 3.675 contaminated confirmed sites (CETESB, 2011b). This
inventory has been published since the year of 2002.
Table 1 shows the distribution of contaminated sites registered in So Paulo by region and
activity, regarding the last data published by CETESB on December 2010.
Cunha (1997) considers that it is the inactive industries which more critically affect the
environment and the population, among the contaminating sources in total.

1
CETESB is the institution that by law is in charge, among other assignments, of enforcing
administrative policies for environmental issues throughout the entire State of So Paulo, as established
by Laws no. 118/73 and no. 997/76.


146
In addition, according to Snchez (2001), it is possible to relate this issue to the life cycle of
factories that had their doors shut for various motives: either because they had lost
economic competitiveness or because their location became less advantageous. This means
that there is the need for modernization and re-use, including potential interim uses up to
the point of a potential industrial or other re-use. Cases such as these are part of urban
dynamics and deserve special attention. Nowadays those are one of the main urban conflicts
to be solved in cities worldwide.

Region
Activities
Commercial Industrial Residues Gas Stations Accidents Total
So Paulo 39 114 28 1.004 5 1.190
So Paulo
Metropolitan
Region - others
29 125 20 419 6 599
Country Side 60 158 40 1.105 12 1.375
Coastal Area 15 40 21 223 1 300
Paraba Valey 4 34 1 171 1 211
Total 147 471 110 2.922 25 3.675
Table 1. Contaminated sites in So Paulo State, Brazil December 2010
The existence of a contaminated site becomes the generator of many problems, such as the
threat to superficial and underground water sources, the devaluation of properties, besides
the threats to public health.
Brazil does not have yet a national public policy, approved by law, about contaminated sites
or brownfield redevelopment
2
. Therefore many contaminated sites have been reused for
new commercial or housing purposes without any type of control from municipal public
authorities potentially ticking time bombs, entailing possibly serious health and
environmental risks in the near future.
As the appearance of contaminated sites is daily increasing, being a considerable problem
mainly in the industrial cities, the State of So Paulo, breaking new ground, has approved
on July 2009 a public policy, by which main regulatory aspects and legal framework on the
issue are established, setting the tone for new legislation on this matter by the other states of
the Brazilian Union.

2
From the conceptual point of view, it is important to highlight that the term Brownfield corresponds
to a site degraded by previous use, which was abandoned or is under-utilized. It may or may not have
real or perceptive contamination problems. Most are located in urbanized areas and require some type
of intervention for a potential re-use as defined in the Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration:
CABERNET Network Report (CABERNET, 2006, p. 26). Up until now the term Brownfield has not
been translated into Portuguese. Snchez (2001, p. 29) suggests the translation into Portuguese as
dysfunctional real estate/property, for there is no possibility that the sites hold a new function
without some type of treatment. Thus, the contaminated site (degraded site by contamination) is a type
of Brownfield as described above.

Contaminated Sites and Public Policies in So Paulo State, Brazil

147
A National Environmental Council Resolution has also been approved, on a federal basis,
establishing guidelines values for soil and underground water, as well as environmental
directions for contamination management.
The objective of this paper is to comment the management of contaminated sites carried out
by the State of So Paulo and to present its new legislation.
2. Methodology
The information and data collection methods combined literature and documental research.
The literature research included bibliographies on contaminated sites management. The
documental research included basically official documents published by CETESB, some
federal legislation and the new legislation on contaminated sites management approved by
the State of So Paulo (Act n. 13.577, of july 8th 2009). Given the newness of the law, there is
no literature about it.
3. Results and discussion
3.1 Environmental competences as determined by the constitution
The Brazilian Federal Constitution establishes that the protection of the environment and
fighting pollution in any of its forms is a common competence of the Union, the States, the
Federal District and the Municipalities, according to article 24, I and IV.
The competence to legislate upon the natural resources and soil protection, environment
protection and pollution control is concurrent to the Union, the States and the Federal
District, according to article 24, VI.
With regard to Municipalities, the Brazilian Federal Constitution attributes competences to
"legislate on matters of local interest", "complementation of federal and state laws, when
applicable", and "promotion, when applicable, of adequate territorial order, through
planning and control of urban land use, parceling and occupation", amongst others (art. 30,
paragraphs I, II and VIII respectively).
Although the environmental quality of urban sites depends on State control, the
municipalities also have the duty to enforce this control, since their attribution to manage
the use and occupation of the land is established by the Constitution.
3.2 Commentaries on the act n 13.577/2009 of the State of Sao Paulo
Even before the approval of the 2009 State Act CETESB had already developed specific
procedures to manage contaminated sites based on Executive Acts n. 007 and n. 023
initially approved on the year 2000.
On the year 2007 those statutes were revised and updated on a new Executive Act n. 103,
which foresees a methodology to manage such sites aiming at their rehabilitation for future
use, legal responsibilities for the contaminated site management, technical studies to be
made in order to identify and delimit the contamination, emergency actions to be
undertaken, remediation techniques, institutional and engineering control measures,
monitoring deadlines and communication procedures towards governmental entities (such
as the state health department and the municipalities, amongst others).
The State Act is composed of 6 chapters: i) general provisions (including the object,
objectives, technical definitions and measures), ii) soil contamination prevention and


148
control, iii) contaminated site (divided in responsibilities, identification and remediation),
iv) economical tools, v) infractions and penalties and vi) general provisions.
The object is to protect the soil integrity against harmful contamination alterations, to
establish liabilities, identify, register and remediate the contaminated sites in a way to make
it safe for present and future use.
As a general objective, it was established the sustainable soil use clause, protecting it from
contaminations and preventing alterations on its natural features and functions by means of:
i. preventive measures, including the protection of soil and underground water natural
properties;
ii. corrective measures including procedures for contaminated sites identification,
protection of the health and safety of the population exposed to the contamination;
remediation
iii. incentive measures for the reuse of remediated sites;
iv. promotion of exchange programs among institutions;
v. guarantee to information and to participation by the population affected by decisions
related with the contaminated areas.
3.2.1 Definitions and tools
As a mainly technical environmental statute, a whole section has being dedicated to the
definition of mostly important terms for the soil quality management. Throughout this essay
some technical and legal definitions shall be presented.
A number of tools have been determined for the soil quality protection and contaminated
sites management, among some of those that follow below:
a) Contaminated sites registration
The database will be composed by detailed information about: i) potentially pollutant
activities and enterprises; ii) which, in the past, had promoted activities liable to provoke
soil contamination; iii) which are under contamination suspicion iv) any other applicable
cases; and will be published in the State of So Paulo Official Gazette and on the State of So
Paulo Environment Department website.
As mentioned the environmental agency of So Paulo is already keeping a database of
contaminated and reabilitated areas which has been published in its website since 2002.
b) Licenses and enforcement
The licensing and the enforcement activities are important tools both in regards to the
preventive and the corrective aspects in the management of contaminated sites.
Environmental licensing is the administrative procedure under which the environmental
agency licenses the location, installation, enlargement and operations of undertakings and
activities using environmental resources, which are considered effectively or potentially
pollutant, or those which, under whatever way, may cause environmental degradation
(CONAMA
3
, 1997).
The procedure is divided into 3 phases, under which the following documents are issued:
i. Preliminary License (granted in the undertakings planning phase, approving its
location, conception and environmental viability);

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149
ii. License for Installation (authorizes the undertakings installation according to the
preliminarily approved specifications); and
iii. License for Operations (authorizes the undertakings operation, after checking the
compliance to previous licenses).
In the State of So Paulo the pollution sources, which depend on environmental licensing,
are provided for in the Decree no. 8468/76.
In the process of licensing an industry one should check if the activities performed may
contaminate the soil or underground waters. Considering that the great majority of
pollution sources depend on the license to operate, the occurrence of contaminated sites
may be avoided in advance by including the suitable technical requirements in the
undertakings installation or operation license, such as for example the obligation for
adequate disposal of chemicals stored or of waste generated in the production process.
Otherwise, from the correction stand point, it is possible that the undertakings operation
license renewal be linked to the identification or remediation actions.
c) Deactivation Plan
The Act establishes that the entities legally responsible for undertakings, which are subject
to environmental licensing and potential contamination generators, about to be totally or
partially deactivated or disoccupied, must communicate the suspension or closing of
activities to the competent state agency.
At this moment a Deactivation Plan should be presented, contemplating the existing
environmental condition, especially regarding the existence of contamination, and should
contain, when applicable, information about the remediation measures to be taken.
Snchez (2005) highlights the deactivation planning importance. Shutting down is a stage of
the industrial activities cycle of life in which the environmental damages accumulated
throughout the previous enterprise stages should be repaired, to avoid conveying the
reparation cost to either third parties or society.
Since year 2002, in the State of So Paulo, the obligation to present a deactivation plan for
the termination of activities subject to environmental licensing is already in force (according
to Decree n. 47.400/2002).
d) City master plan and land use and occupation legislation
This provision is timely to reinforce the need for municipalities to effectively take part in the
prevention and management of contaminated sites.
Municipalities have a power-duty to act in the management of contaminated sites under
two aspects: i) they hold the common competence with the Union, States and Federal
District to protect the environment and fight pollution (since contamination, from the legal
stand point, is a type of pollution), and ii) the hold the competence to legislate on matters of
local interest and to promote territorial ordering through the planning and control of urban
land use.
The Master Plan is the basic instrument for urban development policies. The Act
acknowledged the importance of the municipal action in the prevention and management of
contaminated sites and has often summoned the municipality to take on its responsibility.
The Master Plans and the legislation regarding land use and occupation should take into
account the sites either potentially contaminated or under the suspicion of contamination,
and the confirmed contaminated sites. The approval of land parceling and construction
projects should guarantee the safe use of such sites.


150
Vis--vis the express determinations provided for in the Act, in practice, municipalities of
the State of So Paulo should organize themselves administratively to tackle this issue by
creating specific statutes and administrative procedures, providing equipment and technical
capacity building of human resources, etc. In addition they are responsible for the land use
restriction, in case the contaminated site poses health risks, so to avoid the receptors
exposure to the existent contaminants.
During the different phases of the contaminated sites management the local governments
should be notified by the competent environmental agency when, e.g., the area is classified
as contaminated under investigation, contaminated or remediated for the declared use (art.
18, clause II; art. 24, clause IV; and art. 27, clause III, respectively).
It is therefore not enough that local governments be notified about the presence of
contaminated sites, they should know what to do with this information. Questions such as
What should be done about a contaminated site? What are the consequences for urban
planning in the presence of contaminated sites? Is there a risk to the extent that the land
use should be restricted? How to restrict the land use? Which planning instruments can
be created to attract investors to a contaminated site? need still to be discussed.
Lazanha (2005) highlights that the Municipality, as a federative entity holding the
competence of territorial ordering, should be held accountable for corrective and pro-active
measures in these sites, thus avoiding the spreading of further damages to society with the
construction of housing and other buildings in contaminated sites (p. 116).
In this context, Marker (2003) highlights the importance of assessing within the Brazilian
context which are the pre-requisites to identify and mark the degraded sites in master
plans and land use, to make diagnoses and develop strategies for their revitalization (p.40).
In So Paulo, despite the action of the state agency, there is urgent need to involve the
municipalities on this issue. At the municipal level, however, there are neither instruments
nor any kind of action to enforce the intervention on contaminated sites. In the State of So
Paulo an exception is the municipality of So Paulo where urban planning provides the
control of contaminated sites.
e) Bank collaterals and environmental insurance
Such tools, which still need to be regulated, were provided to ensure the fulfillment of the
remediation plan and should reach the minimum value of 125% of the Plans estimated cost.
In case of non-compliance there is a provision for the possibility that the environmental
agency execute the collaterals aiming at covering the remediation measures complementary
costs.
f) Quality criteria for soil and underground waters
In regards to the control of air and superficial waters pollution, the environmental
legislation established standards of emission and quality, while the soil quality control is
conducted through the use of guideline values.
The adoption of guideline value lists has been the usual practice in countries with a
tradition in soil and underground waters quality monitoring and in contaminated sites
control (CETESB, 2001, p. 10). In a distinct manner there is no standardized international
approach regarding soil pollution because of its complex and variable nature, and the
soil is a privately owned economic asset (CETESB, 2001, p.14).
These guideline values are determining tools for the soil and underground waters quality
management, since they are the fundamentals for making important decisions both


151
preventive, and of pollution control in sites under the suspicion of contamination, as well as
corrective, since they are indispensable for the area to be considered contaminated legally.
This will eventually deploy a series of actions from the legally responsible agency and the
Public Power.
After specific studies which took into account the natural quality of the State of So Paulo
soil, in 2001, CETESB published the Report for the establishment of Guideline Values for
Soils and Underground Waters in the State of So Paulo. This report shows the approach of
the USA, Germany and Holland in regards to the subject and it also reports the
methodology adopted by the State of So Paulo for the establishment of its own values. The
values published in 2001 were revised and nowadays those approved by the CETESB
Executive Act n. 195/2005/E are ruling.
g) Fund
As it occurs in countries such as the USA, a specific Fund for contaminated sites can be used
in cases where the site is considered orphan, i.e., where the responsible entity is not
identified or localized.
The Act provided for the creation of the State Fund for the Prevention and Remediation of
Contaminated Sites, which is an investment fund linked to the Environment Department of
the State of So Paulo and aimed at soil protection and contaminated sites identification
and remediation.
Different sources of revenue were considered, among which resources resulting from
international aid and cooperation and from intergovernmental agreements; donations;
environmental compensations resulting from potentially contaminating activities; 30% of
the amount collected with fines applied based on the Act; reimbursement of State
expenditures, etc.
h) Environmental compensation
The environmental compensation was regulated by the State of Sao Paulo Decree no.
54.544/2009. In the environmental licensing of enterprises, potentially generating
contaminated sites (to be defined by an executive act of the Environment Secretary), the
entrepreneur will collect a value to be determined by the competent agency as a means
of compensation to the Fund.
3.2.2 Legally responsible entities for the identification and remediation of
contaminated sites
The Act established the following subjects as legally, and solidarily, responsible for the
prevention, identification and remediation of a contaminated site: the one that caused the
contamination and its successors; the owner of the area; the the holder of the right of
surface use
4
, the holder of the actual possession; whoever benefits directly or indirectly
from it.

4
The Act defines the holder of the right of surface use as the holder of the right to the surface of a
land lot, for a determined or undetermined period of time, through a public deed registered in the
Property Registry Office, in the terms of the Federal Law no. 10257, July 9
th
, 2001. According to this law
of 2001 (named Statute of the City, that establishes the general guidelines of the urban policy) the right
to the surface encompasses the right to use the ground, the underground or the land related aerial
space, in the form established in the respective contract, meeting the urbanistic legislation (paragraph 1
st

of art. 21).


152
Solidarity is a legal concept provided for in the civil law
5
, and in the case of contaminated
sites it is possible to demand total obligation (e.g. of remediation) from all the responsible
listed above.
The responsibility of the contaminated sites owner is transmitted to the next owner in the
case, e.g., of the sale of the contaminated land. The jurisprudence related to the matter has
been understanding that a real estate environmental obligation (e.g. that of maintaining the
green areas and the permanent preservation areas) is transmitted to the new acquirer.
It is worth mentioning a recent decision held by the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice on an
appeal reported by Justice Herman Benjamin: the obligations derived from the illegal
dumping of waste or residues on the land are of propter rem nature, meaning that they
adhere to the title and are transferred to the future owner () regardless any discussion
about the good or bad faith of the acquirer, for one is not in the condition of subjective
responsibility based on the establishment of a personal guilt
6
.
3.2.3 Contaminated sites preventive actions
As a general rule the Act provided that any individual or legal entity that may contaminate
the soil should adopt the measures for not to allow the occurrence of changes that are
significant and damaging to the functions of the soil.
The functions of the soil were listed as: 1- sustainability of the life and habitat for humans,
animals, plants and soil organisms; 2 maintenance of the water cycle and its nutrients; 3
protection of underground water; 4 maintenance of the historical, natural and cultural
heritage; 5 conservation of the reserves of minerals and raw-materials; 6 food
production; 7 means for the maintenance of social-economic activity.
Environmental agencies were then obliged to act preventively and correctively with the
purpose of preventing significant changes in the functions of the soil. As a parameter for
actions, the use of the following guideline values (already cited above) was provided for:
quality reference value is the concentration of a determined substance in the soil and
in the underground water that defines a soil as clean, or the natural quality of
underground water. These are to be used to guide the soil functions prevention and
control policy.
prevention value is the concentration of a determined substance above which harmful
changes to the quality of soil and underground water may occur. They shall be used
to discipline the introduction of substances in the soil. In case they are surpassed there
will be the need of monitoring resulting impacts.
intervention value is the concentration of a determined substance in the soil and in the
underground water, above which there are potential direct and indirect risks to human
health, considering a generic exposure scenario. These will be used to stop the
continuous introduction of polluting loads in the soil.
3.2.4 Identification of contaminated sites
In the initial phase of contaminated sites identification, two concepts are important: i)
contamination potential area: area, land, location, facility, construction or improvement

5
Article 264 of the Civil Code (Law no. 10.406/2002) establishes that there is solidarity when in the
same obligation more than one creditor or more than one debtor concur, each one with the right, or
obliged to the whole debt.
6
RESP n. 650.728 SC


153
where activities, are or were developed and that due to their characteristics may accumulate
amounts or concentrations of materials in such conditions which render it contaminated;
and ii) area under the suspicion of contamination: site, land, location facility, construction
or improvement with traces of being a contaminated site.
The Act foresees that when detecting traces or suspicions that a site is contaminated, the
legally responsible entity should immediately communicate such fact to the competent
environment and health agencies.
The technical study that is to be conducted is the preliminary assessment, which has the
purpose of clarifying if the contamination suspicion proceeds or not. This assessment was
defined as an initial assessment, based on available information, to fundament the
suspicion of contamination in a site.
In case there is a fundamented suspicion of contamination one should start the confirming
investigation, which aims at proving the existence of a contaminated site. This
investigation is basically composed of the capturing and chemical analyses of samples and
the interpretation of the results. The results are to be compared with the intervention values
for soils and underground waters established by the CETESB.
In case the concentrations observed in loco are above these values the site will be classified as
contaminated site under investigation, which has been defined as the contaminated site
on which procedures are taking place to determine the extension of the contamination and
the affected receptors.
In this management phase obligations were established for the environmental agency such
as, for example, carrying out the preliminary assessment at the site or request the entity
responsible to adopt measures, demand confirmatory investigation once significant
changes harmful to the soil functions are detected.
In addition, the environmental agency must notify the State agencies involved (especially
the organization in charge of granting the right of use of underground waters, the
Municipalities, the Municipal Environmental Boards and other stakeholders), as well as
determine the legally entity in charge that may start emergency action procedures.
The environment and health agencies shall implement a program that guarantees the
affected population, through its representatives, the access to available information and
participation in the site assessment and remediation process.
3.2.5 Rehabilitation and remediation of contaminated sites
The site rehabilitation process main objective is to rehabilitate the site for a pre-established
purpose. The remediation goals to be achieved should be defined based on the scenario of
the soil future occupation.
After the site is classified as contaminated under investigation, new studies are to be
carried out to detail the amplitude of the contamination.
The legally responsible entity shall carry out a detailed investigation to establish a
knowledge around the total extension of the contamination and the identification of all the
receptors under risk. This investigation was legally defined as a process of field data
acquisition and interpretation which allows the understanding of the dynamics of the
contamination plumes in each one of the physical means affected.
In case a water supply source is compromised, the entity responsible for the contamination
shall provide an alternative drinking water source to supply the affected population.
It is important to clarify that typically a contaminated site may be remediated focusing one
between two possible future situations: that the soil be compatible with one previously


154
determined use (fitness for use approach), or with all possible uses (multifunctionality of
soil approach):
Fitness for use clause: a health risk assessment is conducted and takes necessarily into
account the scenario of future use of the land and ways through which people are (or
may be) exposed to existing contaminants. The risk is minimized so it is possible to
maintain the contaminants within the site, as long as this risk is manageable and
maintained at an acceptable level. The site remediation is made as far as necessary to
allow its use for the previously established purpose. Such decision is fundamented on
guideline values for soils and underground waters (explained ahead) which vary
according to each exposure scenario. In this case the site is rehabilitated for a
determined purpose.
Multifunctionality of soil clause: the risk is eliminated by the removal or total
destruction of the polluting substances. The site is recovered to its natural conditions
(i.e., concentrations prior to contamination), and may be used for whichever purposes.
In this case, remediation costs may be infinitely higher than in the previous hypothesis,
even causing the non feasibility of site intervention.
One starts from the premise that certain soil uses require it to have excellent quality such
as for housing and recreation while other uses are less demanding, such as for industrial
purposes or paved parking lots (Snchez, 2001, p. 131).
Regarding the history of contaminated sites management in 16 European countries,
Ferguson (1999, p. 33) mentions that twenty or so years ago land contamination was
usually perceived in terms of relatively rare incidents, with poorly known but possibly
catastrophic consequences for human health and the environment. () As a result
politicians responded by seeking maximum risk control: pollution should be removed or
contained completely.
However it is now widely recognized that drastic risk control, for example cleaning up all
sites to background concentrations or to levels suitable for the most sensitive land use, is
neither technically nor economically feasible (Ferguson, 1999, p. 33).
To give an example, according to Ferguson (1999, p. 33) in 1981 about 350 sites in the
Netherlands were thought to be contaminated and possibly in need of remedial action. By
1995 the number had grown to 300,000 sites with and estimated clean-up cost of 13 billion
ECU
7
. Similar circumstances exist in most other industrialized countries. Consequently,
although the need for policies to protect soil and groundwater is recognized, strategies for
managing contaminated land have moved towards fitness for use.
The article written by Ferguson (1999) allows us to conclude that the management of
contaminated sites in the 16 European countries studied is fundamentally based on the
assessment of risk, be it to human health or to the environment. Most of the countries adopt
the fitness for use approach (or function oriented approach, suitable for use approach, cost-
effective approach), i.e., the future use of the land is taken into account to define the
remediation goals to be achieved. This is of great importance for remediation to be
successful and efficient both from the technical and the economic point of view.
Furthermore, guideline values are adopted for different land use scenarios as a means to
assess the risk of a determined area and based on which the objectives of remediation will
be defined. Eventually, the need and tendency to take into account the economic aspect to

7
European Currency Unit


155
find solutions for a contaminated site stood out, and today managing sites aiming at the
multifunctionality of soil approach is an exception.
In this respect Cunha (1997) underlines that a point in common to all countries which
elaborated contaminated sites management programs, was the high number of sites and the
amount of resources necessary to their remedial. There is thus the need of evaluating the
real need of remediating a contaminated site, considering the existing levels of
contamination and the potential to cause harm to the health of the population. Such
procedure is generically known as health risk assessment and has been adopted in some
countries as a way to determine the real need for a site remediation, as well as in the
definition of the remediation system to be put in place (p.09).
Following the trend of countries that have a tradition in managing contaminated sites, the
State of So Paulo adopted the fitness for use approach, finally putting an end to the issue
related to how extensively a site should be remediated. The Act established the risk
assessment as a subsidy for making decisions regarding interventions for remediation
purposes to take place in a contaminated site.
Risk assessment was legally defined as the process through which risks to human health,
to the environment and to other assets to be protected are identified, evaluated and
quantified. When the values defined for acceptable risk are surpassed, the site will be
classified as contaminated site and its remediation is to be provided.
The expression contaminated site was defined as area, land, location, facility, building or
improvement that contains amounts or concentrations of materials in such conditions that
cause or may eventually cause harm to the human health, to the environment or to any
other asset that is to be protected
8
. Thus the legal concept of contaminated site is not
precise and unequivocally limited, but it derives from the surpassing of acceptable risk
values, that will be analyzed, in the concrete case, by means of a specific risk assessment.
The site remediation will include the adoption of measures for the elimination or
reduction of risks to acceptable levels for the declared use, according to definition
established by the Act.
After the site is classified as contaminated, the environmental agency shall inform the health
agencies, when there is risk to human health, notify other public agencies involved, start the
remediation procedures in tune with the ongoing emergency actions and demand the
presentation of a remediation plan from the legally responsible entity.
During this phase of the site management it is an attribution of the environmental agency to
determine to the legally responsible entity the contaminated site status recording on the real
state registration. Such imposition has been widely discussed about due to a possible
conflict with article 22, clause XXV, of the Brazilian Constitution that says that the Union
has exclusive legislative competence on public recordings issues.
However, even before the arrival of the State Act n. 13.577/2009, record on contaminated
sites real state registration was already a procedure adopted by CETESB in respect to the
Executive Act n. 167/2005 rendered by the Judiciary General Corrective Office, published on
the State of Sao Paulo Official Gazzete on June 12
th
2006.

8
The legal definition of contaminated site was provided for the first time in the Brazilian legislation, by
the State of So Paulo Solid Residues Policy for (Law no. 12300, March 16
th
, 2006), and it is identical to
the definition brought by the Act now discussed.


156
With all that, any possible acquirer could have available any information about past or
present contamination related events on the real state.
When an acceptable risk level is reestablished for the declared use, the site will be classified
as remediated site for declared use, which is defined as area, land, location, facility,
building or improvement previously contaminated, which, after being submitted to
remediation, has reestablished the level of risk acceptable to human health, considering the
declared use.
Thus, besides information about the contamination (Contaminated Site Term) CETESB
also emits the Rehabilitation of the Site for Declared Use Term which includes the kind of
use the site is specifically rehabilitated for, that will also be recorded on the real state
registration.
3.2.6 Infractions and penalties
The actions or omissions contrary to the Act are considered administrative infractions and
will be punished with written warnings, fines, embargo, demolition or suspension of
funding and of tax benefits.
A limit was imposed to the fine penalty, ranging from 4 to 4,000,000 times the value of the
Fiscal Unit of the State of So Paulo UFESP (currently calculated at approximately R$
17,45), and may not surpass the value of R$ 50,000,000 (fifty million reais).
4. Conclusions
The Act n. 13.577/2009 constitutes the first public policy issued in Brazil about
contaminated sites management. It came to fulfill a great legal, as well as technical gap. It
brought to the Brazilian Environmental Law important definitions on technical terms, it
established the legal entities responsible for the contaminated site remediation and it
determined the management stages to be followed.
It also adopted the risk assessment as an important decision making tool as far as the site
intervention will be developed on the terms of the fitness for use approach.
The Fund created by the Act, following a tendency on countries with a established tradition
on contaminated sites management, will specially contribute to an effective management of
certain orphan and abandoned sites as it habilitates and financially enable the State`s
action.
Under the institutional aspect the Act established an exchange among institutions as one
of many ways of reaching its goal. On the various management phases it will be necessary
for the involved public bodies to communicate with each other imposing an effective and
efficient information exchange in a way that each entity, in its particular area of competence,
establishes the necessary procedures on it administrative routine. That was exactly the
objective of the article 50 that states that the State Environment Secretary and Health
Secretary should establish common procedures and routines for any joint campaigns aiming
the prevention or formation of contaminated sites as well as the identification and
remediation of existing ones. We point out that the municipalities also should be inserted
in such a process in a way to specially consider the adoption of this issue in its urban and
environmental planning.
Under the important aspect of publicity the Act has institutionalized the contaminated sites
registration database, imposing the publication of such information on the State


157
Environment Secretary website as well as on the State Official Gazzete. On an innovative
fashion, meaning an important move to make the information available to the general
public, it determined the record of contamination site status and of rehabilitated site status
on the real state registration.
Some important issues still need to be regulated, for example: the way the participation of
the affected population will take place on decisions regarding a site intervention;
specification of bank collaterals and environmental insurances as financing tools to
guarantee the site remediation; and effective creation of tax and crediting incentives.
This innovative Act will probably set a national tendency in a way that other states of Brazil
will probably create their own public policies on contaminated sites regarding regional
particularities. A national public policy would be welcome as to establish directives and
general clauses on the concurrent legislative competence of the Union, States and Federal
District on environmental protection and pollution control issues. A national policy would
also fulfill legal gaps for any state that hasn`t developed its own legislation, which can also
be subject of future researches.
5. References
CABERNET. (2006). Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: CABERNET Network Report,
University of Nottingham, ISBN: 0-9547474-5-3, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
CETESB. (2001). Relatrio de estabelecimento de valores orientadores para solos e guas subterrneas
no Estado de So Paulo, CETESB, So Paulo, Brazil.
CETESB. (2011a). O que so reas contaminadas, In: CETESB, 03.02.2011, Available from:
<http://www.cetesb.sp.gov.br/areas-contaminadas/O-que-s%E3o-%E1%81reas-
Contaminadas/1->
CETESB. (2011b). O gerenciamento de reas contaminadas no Estado de So Paulo, In:
CETESB, 03.02.2011, Available from:
<http://www.cetesb.sp.gov.br/userfiles/file/areascontaminadas/texto_explicativ
o_dez_10.pdf>
Cunha, R. C. de A. (1997). Avaliao de risco em reas contaminadas por fontes industriais
desativadas estudo de caso, Tese (Doutorado em Geocincias), Instituto de
Geocincias, Universidade de So Paulo, So Paulo, Brazil.
Ferguson, C. C. (1999). Assessing risks from contaminated sites: policy and practice in 16
European countries. In: Land Contamination and Reclamation, Rupert Hough, (Ed.),
33-54, EPP Publications, Retrieved from
<http://epppublications.com/Documents/07-2-1.pdf>
Lazanha, L. K. S (2005). Subsdios jurdico-sociais para formulao de polticas pblicas:
revitalizao de reas degradadas por contaminao no Estado de So Paulo. Dissertao
(Mestrado em Sade Pblica), Faculdade de Sade Pblica, Universidade de So
Paulo, So Paulo, Brazil.
Marker, A. (2003). A revitalizao de reas urbanas degradadas: polticas, instrumentos e incentivos
no cenrio internacional (Relatrio de Consultoria), GTZ, So Paulo, Brazil.
Snchez, L. E. (2001). Desengenharia: o passivo ambiental na desativao de empreendimentos
industriais, Edusp, ISBN: 85-314-0599-8, So Paulo, Brazil.


158
Snchez, L. E. (2005). Danos e Passivo Ambiental, In: Curso Interdisciplinar de Direito
Ambiental, Philippi Jr, A & Alves, A. C. (Ed.), pp. 261-293, Manole, ISBN: 85-204-
2187-3, So Paulo, Brazil.
8
Sustainable Management of Muddy Coastlines
Steven Odi-Owei and Itolima Ologhadien
Faculty of Engineering
Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt,
Nigeria
1. Introduction
The Coastal Zone is home to many heavy oil and gas industries, and a significant proportion
of the population and wealth generating infrastructure. The coastal zone therefore, provides
economic, transport, residential and recreational functions, all of which depend upon its
physical characteristics, pleasant landscape, cultural heritage, natural resources and rich
marine and terrestrial biodiversity. The United Nations estimated that by 2004, more than
75 percent of the worlds population would live within the coastal zone (Reeve et al., 2004).
These regions are therefore of critical importance to a majority of humanity and affect an
increasing percentage of our economic activities. The pressure on coastal environments is
being exacerbated by rapid changes in global climate, overexploitation of fisheries, coastal
and marine pollution, coastal erosion and flooding, physical modification and destruction of
habitats, etc. For example, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has
predicted a sea level rise of the order of 0.6m over the next century. For Nigeria, it is of the
order of 0.83m (Nwaogazie & Ologhadien 2010)
The value of the coastal zone to humanity, and the enormous pressure on it, provides strong
incentives for a greater scientific understanding which can ensure effective coastal
engineering practice and efficient and sustainable management of coastlines.
2. Muddy coastline
Coastal classification generally falls into two main categories; namely, genetic (nature) and
descriptive (based on morphology). Within the descriptive classification, a sub classification
in terms of particle size of the beach material have: muddy coasts, sand coast, gavel/shingle
coasts and rock coast. Another sub-classification based on typical coastal features have the
following: barrier island coasts, delta coasts, dune coasts, cliff coasts, coral reef coasts,
mangrove coasts, marsh grass coasts, etc.
While a vast majority of coastlines are made up of sediments ranging from coarse-grained
fragments of rocks to fine-grained sand, only a few are muddy coasts. Sediment mixture
with a fraction of clay particles (d < 4m, AGU scale), larger than about 10% have cohesive
properties. Mud may be defined as a fluid-sediment mixture consist of (salt) water, sands,
silt, clays and organic materials. Muddy coasts fall within the descriptive category of coasts
in which classification are based on particle size of the beach material. In a coastal
environment, there is a continuous cycle of mud flocs which consists of erosion, settling,
deposition, consolidation and erosion. Since mud particles are denser than water and


160
unstable, the continuous agitation of the surf zone by breaking waves transport mud
material cross-shore and equilibrium conditions are hardly attained. Thus muddy coastlines
hardly form breaches, which offer natural coastal protection systems. Plate 1 shows the
action of breaking waves on a muddy coastline.

Plate 1. Wave breaking on a muddy coast at Aiyetoro, Nigeria
3. Coastal processes
The hydraulic and morphological processes in the coastal zone are governed by two
primary phenomena; namely, windwaves and astronomical tides. The wind stress on the
water surface produces wind-generated waves which are of a relatively short period. The
periodic rise and fall of water level is due to the astronomical tides produced by the
gravitational field in the presence of the rotating earth, moon and sun. The timescale of tidal
oscillations is very much larger than that of the wind-generated waves. Table 1 presents
other free surface disturbances.

Phenomena Generating force Time scale
(period)
Wind generated waves Shear and wind pressure on sea surface 0-15s
Swell Long-distance wind wave 0-30
s

Surf beats Grouping of breaking waves 1-5 min
Seiches Variations of wind speed and atmospheric
pressure
1-60 min
Basin resonance Tsunami, surf beats 1-60 min
Tsunami Undersea earthquakes 5-60 min
Tide Moon-sun influences on earth 12-24 hr
Storm surge Wind shear and atmospheric pressure on sea 1-30 days
Table 1. Free surface disturbances in the coast


161
The most important hydraulic process in coastal engineering is the wave motion; the
understanding of wave motion and of its interaction with structures and coastal hydrography
is vital in the estimation of erosion and accretion, sediment transport and coastal morphology.
These processes are also important in formulating sustainable management plans.
3.1 Wave motion
The wave profile according to the linear wave theory is
a
kx - t
= cos (1)
where q is surface elevation, a is wave amplitude, e is circular frequency, k is wave
number, t is time, and x is positive direction of wave travel. The solution of the velocity
potential ( | ) for the wave profile of Equation 1, must satisfy the Laplace equation,
boundary conditions at the sea bed and on the water surface. The resulting solution for | is
given by:
| = -gH
4
T | |
|
t
\ .

cosh ( )
cosh
k d z
kd
+
sin (kx t) (2)
where g is acceleration due to gravity, H is wave height, T is wave period, k and e are as
previously defined.
The wave celerity (c) and wave dispersion equations are :
c = g
-1
tanh kd (3)
and

2
= gk tanh kd (4)
where k =
2
L
t
and =
2
T
t

The particle velocities are derived from Equation 2 using the definition of velocity potential:
u = tHT
-1

cosh ( ( )
sinh
k y d
kd
+
cos (kx t) (5)
v = tHT
-1

sinh ( ( )
sinh
k y d
kd
+
sin (kx t) (6)
where is the height of the water surface above stillwater level, u is the horizontal water
particle velocity, v is the vertical water particle velocity, d is the still water depth, H is the
wave height, L is the wave length and T is the wave period.
For the computation of longshore sediment transport, coastline evolution, design of shore
protection works and estimation of wave impact pressures on structures, historic wave data
are required. The wave measurement facilities may be situated offshore in relatively deep
water. By means of the wave dispersion equations (3 & 4), the wave conditions in the
offshore station may be transferred to the coastal zone. Equations 5 and 6 are components of
velocity used in estimating the wave forces exerted on structures.


162
3.2 Sediment transport
Coastal sediment transport consists of two aspects: sediment transport parallel to the
shoreline (longshore) and sediment transport transverse to the shoreline (crossshore). The
imbalances in the longshore sediment transport are responsible for the long-term changes in
the coastlines, whereas the cross-shore transport is responsible for the short-term variations.
The morphological consequences of shore protection works are assessed in terms of
quantitative estimates of erosion and accretion. Waves and currents, along with the
physical properties of the sediment materials, determine the rate of material transport in the
coastal zone. The reliability of sediment transport predictions is strictly dependent upon the
accuracy of the semi-empirical equations used to evaluate the sediment transport. Studies
have been carried out to establish the validity and reliability of several solid transport
formula (White et al. 1973; Gomez and Church 1989; Bathurst et al. 1987). These studies
concluded that, there is no solid transport formula valid for all ranges of natural conditions
and therefore, the more appropriate formula for each set of particular conditions can be
chosen.
A number of longshore transport models have been developed for a number of natural
conditions; namely,
3.2.1 Coastal erosion research council (CERC) formula (1963)
In the CERC formula,
S = A
2 2
sin cos
o o rbr br br
H C K | | (7)
where S is longshore transport due to breaking waves, A is a constant, H
o
is deepwater
wave height, C
o
is deepwater wave celerity, K
rbr
is wave refraction coefficient at the breaker
line, and |
br
is breaker angle.
The CERC formula does not account for differences in sediment materials often represented
by d
50
(mean size). The formula is often criticized for being only valid for relatively long and
straight beaches, where the longshore differences in the breaking wave heights are small.
Thirdly, the formula does not account for currents which are not generated by breaking
waves, such as tidal currents. When tidal currents are important, another transport formula
should be used.
3.2.2 Bijker formula (1967 & 1968)
The Bijker formula is:

2
50
50
2
2
0.27
exp
1
1
2
b
b
D C
S bD g
C
u
(
(
(
A u
=
(

( | |
tu +
`
|
(
u
\ .
( )
(8)
where S
b
is bed load transport, b is a constant (~5), D
50
is mean grain diameter, u is current
velocity, C is chezy coefficient = 18log
12h | |
|
\ .
, h is water depth, r is bed roughness, g is


163
acceleration due to gravity, A is specific density,
0.5
2
fw
C
g
| |
=
|
\ .
with f
w
= exp
6.0 5.2 0.19
o
a | |
+
` |
\ . )
, a
o
is the amplitude of orbital excursion at the bed,
b
is amplitude
of orbital velocity at the bed.
The Bijker longshore shore transport model takes into account the effect of tidal or other
types of currents and may be coupled with other models. The Bijker model is unique,
because it is adaptable to any current condition.
3.2.3 Kamphius equation (1991)
The Kamphius model was refined using a series of hydraulic model tests, giving
Q
k
=
2.0 1.5 0.75 0.25 0.6
50
2.27 (tan ) (sin2 )
sb b
H Tp D
| u (9)
where H
sb
is breaker wave height, T
p
is peak wave period, | is slope of the beach, D
50
is
medium sediment diameter, u
b
is wave breaker angle. The Kamphius model does not take
tidal currents along the coast in account.
4. Coastal morphology
Morphological evolutions are a direct response to changes in sediment transport. The
computation of longshore sediment transport rates preceeds prediction of coastal changes
due to erosion and accretion. When the sediment transport rate reduces, accretion will
occur; conversely, an increase in sediment transport will cause erosion. Consequently,
morphological evolutions are indicative of changes in shoreline position, and these changes
are often components of the decision making measures against coastal erosion.
In conclusion, the coastline is in a state of dynamic equilibrium, characterized by the local
wave climate, currents, and other water level fluctuations summarized in Table 1. In order
to manage coasts sustainably, a good data gathering programme comprising: bathymetry/
topography, seabed characteristics/bedform, waterlevels/ waves, etc. is recommended.
5. Data gathering and mathematical modelling
5.1 Mathematical modelling
Most coastal engineering models are non-linear equations, which do not have analytical
solution. Therefore, they cannot be applied to problems involving complex boundaries and
time-varying boundary conditions. Analytical solution of models of real world will be of
little help and one has to resort to numerical techniques. Several types of numerical
methods, such as finite differences, finite element, finite volume and boundary element
methods have been widely used to coastal engineering problems. Such models are used in
investigating coastal processes and the design of coastal engineering schemes.
Experiments using physical models can also be undertaken using controlled conditions, thus
allowing investigation of each controlling parameter independently. Physical models are
normally smaller scale versions of the real situation. This requires a theoretical framework
to relate model measurements to the real (prototype) situation. Unfortunately, the result of


164
this theoretical framework is that scaled physical models are unable to simultaneously
replicate all of the physical processes present in the prototype in correct proportion. Thus,
we return to nature, by way of field measurements. Such measurements obviously do
contain all the real physics, if only we knew what to measure and the appropriate
instruments to do so. Such measurement, as are possible, have to be taken in an often
hostile environment, at considerable relative cost and under uncontrolled conditions.
5.2 Data gathering
Field investigations are often carried out for major specific coastal defense projects.
Basically, measurements are made on waves, tidal currents, water levels and beach profiles.
Such measurements are often used to derive the local wave climate, current circulation
patterns, extreme still-water levels and beach evolution through the use of numerical
models which are calibrated and take their boundary conditions from the measurement.
Mulder et al. (2000) described a set of measurement tools considered both comprehensive and
informative, comprising descriptions of equipment to measure bathymetry/topography,
seabed characteristics/bedforms, water levels/waves, velocities, suspended sediment
concentrations, morphodynamics/sediment transport and instrument carrier/frames plat
forms.
Table 2 contains some recent tools in measurement equipment taken from Dominic et al.
(2004). Interested readers are referred to the above texts for guidelines on how to use the
tools and examples of results.
In terms of the development of our understanding and the incorporation of that
understanding in the management of coastlines, design process, field studies and physical
model studies are required to improve both our knowledge of the physics and calibrate and
verify our numerical models. These models are key component of the current state-of-the art
tools.
5.3 Geographic information system (GIS) tools
Sustainable development and management of natural and economic resources depends on
the ability to assess complex relationships between a variety of economic, environmental
and social factors across space and time. Lack of Integrated data management tools among
the Interrelated and Interwoven dimensions frequently Inhibit the quality of environmental
and development planning. Consequently, information management systems are currently
receiving growing attention. In this regard, GISs have emerged as a particularly promising
approach, enabling users to collect, store, and analyze data that have been referenced to its
geographic location.
A Geographic Information System is a system of computer hardware, software, and
procedures designed to support the capture, management, manipulation, analysis, and
display of spatially referenced data for solving complex planning and management
problems.
The advantages of GIS capability can be categorized as long term or short term. The long-
term category is where economic and environmental management on a national, regional or
local level is called for , in other words, institutional or programmatic applications. The
short-term category usually involve specific project situations, for example, Environmental
Impact Assessment Studies.


165
S/No Name of tool Brief description
1 Total station leveling for
bathymetry/topography
Method of surveying the coast and
inter-tidal area, using laser leveling system.
2 Differential global positioning
system (GPS)
Method for fixing absolute position (three
coordinates), based on calculated distance
from at least four geo-stationary satellites.

3 Echo Sounder surveys Method of surveying the seabed using a
standard maritime echo sounder.
4 Van Veen grab for seabed
characteristics/bed forms
A method of obtaining samples of subtidal
seabed material either for visual analysis or
for quantitative particle size distribution
analysis.
5 Roxann system An acoustic system used to produce a map
of the near shore and offshore zones of the
study area.
6 Digital side-scan sonar An acoustic system designed to map the
bedforms in the offshore and nearshore
zones.
7 Pressure transducer (TP) for water
levels/waves.
A device for measuring total pressure,
when installed underwater, analysis of
instantaneous pressures gives measure of
wave height/period.
8 Wave pole A pole or pile driven into the bed, and
extending above the highest water level.
9 Directional wave Buoy A surface buoy for measuring offshore wave
conditions, including wave height, period
and direction.
10 Wave recording system (WRS) The wave recording system is an array of 6
pressure transducers used to derive the
wave height, period and directional spectra
in the nearshore zone.
11 Inshore Wave Climate Monitor
(IWCM)
The 5 wave staffs are driven into the beach
in a triangular array and are connected to a
central data storage/ battery power unit.
Table 2. Names and brief description of measurement tools
The basic equipment, software and human resource skills required may be similar for both
long-term and short-term, but the design, implementation and operation implications may
be different.


166
GIS may be particularly useful in cross-sectoral and regional development, for example, in
coastal zones, catchments, large urban areas, or multi-purpose development schemes within
a given administrative region.
Determining a regions vulnerability to soil erosion for instance, requires the consideration
of such factors as soil structure and chemistry, seasonal fluctuations in rainfall volume and
intensity, geomorphology, and type of land management regime in practice. Assessing the
feasibility of a soil conservation programme in an area requires additional information on
the economic status of Inhabitants, the type of crops grown, and the responsiveness to
incentives for soil conservation. Then, selecting the appropriate land rehabilitation models
requires data on land capability and its suitability for different uses. GIS technologies
handle both the spatial and non-spatial properties of data-sets, thus providing an extension
to other statistical methods that disregard the spatial nature and variations of environmental
data. The advantages of using GIS in environmental assessment include the following:
- It encourages a more systematic approach to environmental data collection;
- It can reduce the overall costs and institutional overlap of environmental data collection
and management;
- It increases comparability and compatibility of diverse data sets;
- It makes data used in environmental assessment accessible to a wider range of decision-
makers; and,
- It encourages the spatial analysis of environmental impacts that would otherwise be
more easily ignored because of analytical difficulty or cost.
Besides Environmental Assessment, GIS provides a powerful set of tools for:
- Supporting Resources Inventories and Baseline Surveys and land-use mapping;
- Impact Assessment and Analysis of Alternatives;
GIS modeling techniques allow complex interrelationships to be evaluated within
comprehensive spatially referenced databases. Techniques such as network analysis, digital
terrain modeling are routinely applied in coastal engineering to assess the vulnerability of
climate change sea-level rise to coastal communities.
Decisions made in GIS application will be useful in designing mitigation measures. Risk
assessment applications such as hazard identification, and risk minimization planning are
other examples where GIS has been effective.
Environmental Monitoring
When monitoring environmental impacts during and after project completion, databases
with multiple attributes must be integrated. GIS can help structure and integrate this
diverse information ranging from water quality to soil productivity to habitat data. Specific
GIS technologies that are useful in monitoring include remote sensing, which can be applied
to monitor, for example, sewage disposal sites, effluent discharges and coastal areas for
example.
5.3.1 Available GIS
Geographic information systems are available both in PC/micro computers and mini and
main frame computers. Table 3 lists a summary of some commercially available geographic
information systems.
5.4 Salt intrusion/gravitational circulation
Sediment-laden flowing water, other natural substances or pollutants move with the water,
and therefore are transported by the flow. The flowing water is affected by density


167
differences, causing density induced currents. These currents affect the direction of flow
and transport, and may vary over the depth of water. Consequently, density currents are a
factor to be considered when studying the sedimentation in estuaries, coast or the transport
of pollutants through these systems. Another negative effect of gravitational circulation is
the creation of null points causing shoaling and sedimentation which interferes with
navigation.

System name Hardware Geometric
Storage
Attribute
storage
ARC/INFO VAX, PRIME IBM, DG Vector Relational
DELTAMAP HP, SUN Vector Relational
INFORMAP VAX Vector Relational
INTEGRAPH VAX Vector Network
MAPS VAX, PRIME Vector Relational
SICAD SIEMENS Vector Relational
SYSSCAN VAX Vector Relational
GEOBASED VAX Vector Relational
SYSTEM 600 VAX Vector Relational
ARC/INFO IBM PC/AT SYSTEM 2 Vector Relational
SPANS IBM PC/AT SYSTEM 2 Quadtree
vector
Relational
INFORMAP II IBM/AT Vector Relational
ERDAS IBM/AT Vector Relational
ILWIS IBM/AT Raster vector Relational
PAMAP IBM/AT Raster Relational
IDRISI IBM/AT Raster Relational
Table 3. GIS in mini and main-frame computers
Management concerns frequently center on the concentration of waterborne indicators,
including pollutants and plaktonic organisms. The need to consider the environmental and
economic sustainability of present and future coastal management schemes on muddy
coasts requires a good understanding of density currents and morpho-dynamics. Aquatic
ecosystem sustainability is highly dependent on salinity concentration dynamics and must
be studied for the particular environment. Both analytical and mathematical models are
currently used to simulate salt intrusion. The models constitute a powerful tool for
evaluation of salinity intrusion patterns and as supportive instruments for decision making
in coast management. Table 4 contains some widely used coastal engineering models:


168
Designs Name Purpose
1 Genesis Simulation of coastal processes
2 SBEACH Coastal Engineering design
3 MODIFIED KRIEBEL Cross-shore simulation for berm
dimensions and hurricane storm
events.
4 CEQUALW2 Salinity Intrusion
Table 4. Widely Used Coastal Engineering Models
6. Sustainable management of coastlines
Coastal management plans are designed to provide coastal zone resource development
within the framework of:
a. Technical: coastal processes and defense, etc
b. Socio-economic: economic demography, regional planning and
c. Environmental: water quality, biodiversity, etc.
i. Coastal management is continually confronted with conflicting challenges. There are
problems of jurisdiction involved in whether the responsibility for running the
operation lies with the federal governments, a local government or some regulatory
commission, and always there is application of priorities supposedly set by society as a
whole. The basic tool is a legal framework to regulate the conflicting activities on the
coast. These may include national laws made to meet specific requirements, e.g.
National Environmental Policy Acts of 1969 which provides preparation of
environmental impact statement, the Water Quality Act of 1970 which addresses oil
pollution; international covenants and jurisdictional responsibility.
ii. There is a problem of political process. The political process is such that technical
standards will almost always yield to such things as austerity cases, emergency
situations, or strong public sentiments. Consequently, decision on coastal environment
must have a public input or else the decision will probably not be effective. The
manager must be prepared to strike a compromise between the emotional public,
individual agencies, both state and federal, often working at cross-purposes.
iii. Arising from (ii), is the need for coordinated approach such that environmental
protection, fish and wildlife services, etc, may work together and adopt a consistent
approach to survey, mitigation and monitoring. The coordinated approach achieves
better results for the environment in terms of a more consolidated, integrated approach
and saves on resources and repetition by stakeholders.
iv. The physical characteristics of coastal environment is dictated by the actions of breaking
waves and currents on sediment materials. There is need for quality data gathering,
both comprehensive and information, comprising bathymethry/topography, seabed
characteristics/bedforms, water levels/waves, velocities, suspended sediment
concentration.
v. There is need to broaden the emphasis from assessment of physical environment
aspects, to assessment of impacts on marine ecological resources, in particular benthic
and epibenthic species, habitats.


169
vi. Application of Hydroinformatics systems: Hydroinforamtics, the use of information
and communication technology in hydraulics, encapsulates and integrates engineering
methods in software systems. It provides powerful methods to engineers and rational
solutions to policy makers. The application of hydroinformatics systems to problem
solving in coastal environments requires the availability of databases for calibration and
verification of engineered systems. It also calls for adequate instrumentation and
experimental methods, and international cooperation for the acquisition and exchange
of data. Hydroinformatics systems will have to be built up from proprietary codes and
modeling systems that have been constructed, in most cases, for quite other purposes
than those of hydroinformatics. Interested readers are referred to Abbot et al., (1988)
for full description of hydroinformatics systems.
vii. The need for integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). Integrated coastal zone
management has been widely accepted as an effective mechanism for addressing and
resolving these types of issues throughout the developed and developing world. ICZM
will enable the integration of all issues and emphasize the involvement of all key
players in the planning process, coordination between sectoral agencies, and
application of cooperative management strategies involving stakeholders.
7. Environmental aspects of coastlines
As a case study, the Nigerian coast and marine areas have been chosen under this heading:
7.1 Wave and tidal characteristics
The Nigerian coast and marine areas are under the influence of moderate oceanographic
forcing consisting of semi-diurnal tidal with spring tide ranging between 0.95m in the West
to 3.25m in the East. The prevailing South-Westerly waves vary from spilling breaker to
plunging waves. The persistence of significant wave height (hs) are in the order of 1.4m
2.5m. Long shore currents and prevalent in the near shore while the West-East Guinea
currents constitute the major ocean current.
The relative importance of diurnal and semidiurnal harmonics can be determined from the
ratio, F, given by
F = K
1
+ O
1
/ M
2
+ S
2
(10)
where K
1
, O
1
, M
2
and S
2
denote the amplitudes of the respective tidal constituents. The form
of tide (F) found in the Nigerian Atlantic Coast was calculated by substituting the
amplitudes for K
1
, O
1
, M
2
and S
2
into Equation (10). The value of F calculated is 0.1601.
Consequently, the tidal behaviour found along the Nigerian Atlantic coast is semi-diurnal,
with two high and two low waters of approximately the same height.
7.2 Assessment of climate change
The possible impacts of climate change include higher sea levels altered pattern of rainfall
and air temperatures, and increased frequency and intensity of severe storms. Some
industries could be directly affected by adverse impacts of climate change. The coastal
tourism industry, for example, is vulnerable to both sea-level rise and greater weather
extremes. Table 5 shows a comparison of sea-level rise indicator parameters with others
(Nwaogazie and Ologhadien 2010).


170
Parameter Nigerian
Coast
IPCC Ghana England Remarks
Temperature 1.8
o
C 1.5 4.5
o
C 0.11
o
C NA Per decade

Rainfall 55.2mm NA 13mm NA Per decade

Mean Sea Level 8.3cm 6cm 2.2cm 4cm-6cm Per decade
NA - Not Available; IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change
Table 5. Comparison with IPCC and other Predictions
7.3 Sea-break-through inlets
The major environmental concern of the Ondo Coastline in Nigeria is its susceptibility to
sea-break through inlets (Odi-Owei and Ologhadien, 2009). The first sea break-through inlet
occurred in 1983, when a canal was dredged oblique to the coastline, leaving a vertical head
cut. The overhang, coupled with the poor geotechnical characteristics and mechanisms of
sediment transport downstream in the channel, initiated an upstream migration at the head
cut towards the sea. Over time, the combined actions of the breaking waves, tidal currents
and sea wind migration of the head cut eventually opened up the inlet, discharging saline
water into the fresh water forest. Consequently, over 20 hectares of fresh water forest
resources were destroyed (Plate 2), impacting negatively on the local economy. It also
reduced the volume of saw-logs supply to the timber markets in Lagos, Benin, etc.
Freshwater resources are extensively exploited for cash or subsistence. The Ondo State
coastline is fairly stable except in areas that are exposed to breaking waves.
7.4 Coastal erosion and flooding
The coastline has been subjected to erosion over the years in Nigeria. Scientist from the
Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) have reported
widespread erosion and flooding of the Barrier Islands and the Niger Delta (Ibe et al., 1984,
Awosike 1993) created erosion resulting from deficit of sand due to natural and
anthropogenic activities varies. Notable among the natural causes of coastal erosion are
vulnerable soil characteristics, topography and occurrence of off-shore canyons.
Anthropogenic causes include destruction of coastline dredging and river dams.
The Victoria beach is fastest eroding beach in Nigeria with arrange erosion rate of 20 -30m
yearly. Erosion rates range between 18-24m annually at Ugborodo/Escravos; Forcados, 20-
22m; 16-19m at Brass; Karamo, 15-20m; Bonny, 20-24m; and Opobo; 10-14m; as reported by
Ibe in 1989. Coastal erosion with serious flooding has done widespread damage in many
areas along the coastal zone. The beaches along the Nigerian coastline are very susceptible
to flooding due to their very low topography. Flooding of the Victoria Island in Lagos State
and other low-lying areas of the state are common during the rainy season (June-August).
High rainfall in the Niger Delta coupled with poor drainage allow storm waters to collect in
the hallows and eventually flood large areas within the Delta.


171

Plate 2. Dead vegetation around Awoye inlets

Fig. 1. Map showing Canal and Sampling Stations


172
7.5 Physical modification and festruction of habitats
The coastal zones have undergone wide modifications in the last thirty years. Due to high
pressures on coastal resources conflicting exploitation techniques and increasing population
leading to loss of biodiversity, in the ecosystem, the value of coastlines has been diminished.
The destruction of mangrove ecosystems has been on the increase since exploitation of oil
and gas started in the Niger Delta resulting in replacement of mangrove vegetation by new
vegetation species like nympa palms.
The Kwale game reserve in the 1950s was rich in biodiversity but due to oil exploration, gas
production and poaching elephants and many flora and fauna have disapproved in the
Reserve several animal species of conservation interest including Scalters Guenon, Delta
Red Columbus, the Crested Genet, the Pygmy Hippo, Chimpanzee and African Leopard
have almost disappeared in the Niger Delta, many plants of medicinal, economic and
cultural values such as Thaumatiococcus daniel (sweetener) Fegara sp. (for sickle cell anemia)
and Rauvolfia vomitoria (for treatment of high blood pressure and now rare in the Niger
Delta).
The major socio-economic problems result from poverty ecosystem modification in the
coastal zones include unemployment because the people depend on their tradition mean of
livelihood.
7.6 Environmental management plan for coastal communities
The key to effective environmental management plan is adequate monitoring of the projects
implementation, predicted impacts and monitoring or implementation of predicted
mitigation measures. The environmental issues that will be addressed are;
i. Over exploitation of Fisheries resources,
ii. Costal and Marine Pollution
iii. Oil spills
iv. Coastal Erosion and Flooding
v. Physical modification and destruction of habitats
vi. Climate change and sea-level rise
vii. Invasive species (exotic species)
viii. Storm surges.
8. Conclusion
In order to implement the Environmental Management Plan for Coastal Communities,
guidelines for dealing with specific environmental issues identified should be developed.
As part of the management plan, continuous data collection for bathymetry, topography,
waves, tides, surges, wind and salinity need to be carried out.
9. References
Abbot, M.B., (1991), Hydroinformatics; Information Technology and the Aquatic
Environment, Avebury Technical, ISBN 1 85628 832 3.
Adnitt, C. and Lewis J. (2004) The Future of Environmental Impact Assessment for marine
aggregate extraction-best practice and emerging issues. Journal of marine Science
and Environment, No. CI 2004, pp.36-44.


173
Antonucci, J., GIS: A Guide to the Technology, New York: Von Nostrand Reinhold, 1991.
Bathurst, J.C., Graf, W.H., and Cao, H.H. (1987). Bed-load Discharge equation for steep
mountain rivers Sediment transport in Gravel-bed rivers, C.R. Thorne, J.C.
Bathurst and R.D., Hey, eds., John Wiley and Sons ltd., new York, N.Y.
Bijker, E., Sedimentation in Channels and Trenches, Proc. 17
th
Conf. on Coastal Eng.,
Sydney, Australia, 1980, pp.299-300.
Burrough, P.A., (1986), Principles of GISs for Earth Resources Assessment, Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
Christine, A. Coughonowr, Magnus N. Ngolie and Olof Linden (1995); Coastal Zone
Management on Eastern Africa Including the island States: A Review of issues and
Initiatives Ambio Vol.24, No.7-8, pp.448-457.
Dominic Reeve, Andrew Chadwick and Christopher Fleming (2004). Coastal Engineering:
Processes, Theory and Design Practice, Spon Press, OX14 4RN.
EA Source Book Update, GISs for Environmental Assessment and review, #3, April, 1993.
Gomez, B., and Church, B. (1989) An Assessment of bed load Sediment Transport Formulae
for Gravel Bed Rivers, J. Water Resources 25(6), 1161-1186.
Hassan, H.M., and C, Hutchinson, Natural Resource and Environmental Information for
Decisionmaking, World Bank, 1992.
Management of the Marine Environment in Introduction to Marine Pollution Control,
Jerome Williams, a Wiley-Interscience Publication. Chap 10.
Mulder, J.P.M., Koningfield, M. Van Owen, M.W. and Rawson, J., 2001. Guidelines on the
selection of CZM tools. Report RIKZ/2001.020, Rijkswanterstaat, April 2001.
Nwaogazie I.L, and Ologhadien I. (2010). Trend Analysis of Climate Change Indicators
along the Nigerian Atlantic Coast, Proceedings of the International Conf. on
Climate Changes, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Abuja 2010.
Nwilo, P.C. (1997). Managing the Impacts of Storm Surge on Victoria Island, Lagos,
Nigeria IAHS, Publ. No. 239, pp. 325 330.
Odi-Owei S. and Ologhadien I. (2009). Environmental Aspect of Dredging Intra-coastal
Navigation Channels in Muddy Coastline: The case of Awoye, Ondo State,
Nigeria. Journal of Food, Agr. & Environ, Vol. 7(2): 764-768.
Paulson, B., Urban Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis, World Bank,
1992.
Rijn, L.C. van Sediment Transport, Part II: Suspended Load Transport, Journal of Hydraulic
Engineering, vol. 110, No.11, 1984, pp.1613-1641.
Rijn, L.C. van, Initiation of Motion, Bed Forms, bed Roughness, Sediment Concentrations
and Transport by Currents and Waves, Report S 487-IV, Delft Hydraulics
Laboratory, Delft, The Netherlands, 1985.
Rijn, L.C. van, Model for Sedimentation Predictions, Proc., 19
th
IAHR-Congress, vol.2,
New Delhi, India, 1980, pp.321-329.
Rijn, L.C. van, Sediment Transport, Part I: Bed Load Transport, Journal of Hydraulic
Engineering, vol.110, No.10, 1984, pp.1431-1456.
Rijn, L.C. van, Sediment Transport, Part III: Bed Forms and Alluvial Roughness, Journal of
Hydraulic Engineering, vol.110, No.12, 1984, pp.1733-1754.
Van OS, A.G. (1990). Density currents and salt Intrusion, Lecture Note for the Hydraulic
Engineering Course at Unesco-IHE, Delft, The Netherlands.


174
van Rijn, L.C. (1992) Morphological Processes, Lecture Note for Hydroinformatics Course at
Unesco-IHE, Delft, The Wetherlands.
White, W.R., Milli, H., and Crabbe, C. (1973). Sediment Transport: An Appraisal of
Available Methods Hydr. Res. Station, Wallingford.
Part 2
Environmental Management in Industry
9
Indicators of Sustainable Business Practices
Hyunkee Bae and Richard S. Smardon
Department of Environmental Studies,
SUNY College of Environmental and Science and Forestry
USA
1. Introduction
Since the end of the 1990s, businesses have started to systematically consider environmental
problems in terms of different positions and levels within a firm, such as design, purchase,
sale, and disposal (Welford, 2000). The United Kingdom published BS 7750, a standardized
specification for an environmental management system in 1994 and the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) published ISO 14001 - an environmental
management standard in 1996. The main goal of these standards is to help all kinds of
organizations to establish and implement environmental management systems by
systematically setting up environmental policies, practices, objectives, and targets. The
number of organizations with ISO 14001 certification around the world rapidly increased to
13,368 in December of 1999 to 129,031 in December of 2006 (Corporate Risk Management
Company, 2000:2007).
Welford (2000) insisted that Environmental Management Systems (EMSs), such as ISO
14001, are no longer options. However, there are some problems with EMSs. The ISO 14001
standard does not promote the flexibility needed to handle continuously changing
environmental issues (Moxen & Strachan, 1998). The ISO 14001 mostly depends on action
control and results based on environmental impacts, rather than social and ethical control.
Thompson (2002) pointed out three areas of ISO 14001 that should be described: (i) social
aspects and impacts and how to control them; (ii) guidelines for a set of widely recognized
and accepted environmental performance principles; and (iii) a method to communicate
environmental performance information to external stakeholders and decision makers. To
address these areas, businesses should go even further than environmental management
systems and completely integrate all the components of sustainable development into a new
way of doing business (Welford, 2000). In addition, a variety of interested parties, such as
governments, green consumers, and green investors, are also encouraging firms to
incorporate their environmental management systems and sustainable development into
their decision-making process for sustainable business practices and/or strategies.
Companies could implement sustainable business practice to meet these demands for
interested parties on sustainable business. To effectively implement sustainable business
practices, firms need to know the kinds of indicators that meet the characteristics or
concepts of sustainable business practices.
Based on these needs, we aims to identify whether or not firms have applied sustainable
business practices based on the Triple Bottom Line (Environmental, economic, and social

areas). To accomplish this goal, we conducted two surveys. The first survey identified the
trends of indicators in terms of the TBL used to describe sustainable business practices. The
second survey assessed the degree to which firms have issued performance reports and
what kinds of keywords were used in the titles of these reports.
2. Literature review
2.1 Sustainable business
There is no single definition of sustainable business, as there is for sustainable development
(Azapagic, 2003). A lack of a common accepted definition of sustainable business is the
most critical problem because the definition is a fundamental tool to carry out new policies
and actions. To overcome this, a few institutions have introduced the definition of
sustainable business. The Evergreen Group (2008), a business brokerage dedicated to
sustainable business, defines that a sustainable business is a business that carries out an
environmentally friendly business processes without negative environmental impacts
related to their activities, products, and services. Sustinable business.Com
1
(2009) says that
sustainable business is a business that contributes to an equitable and ecologically
sustainable economy. Based on these examples of the definitions of sustainable business,
sustainable business offers products and services that fulfill society's needs while
contributing to the well-being of all earth's inhabitants. Sustainable business is a new,
radical paradigm that considers the ecological, social, and economic impacts in a way that
will not compromise the needs of future generations (Azapagic & Perdan, 2000; Welford,
2000). Azapagic and Perdan (2000) asserted that firms need a paradigm shift if firms want to
integrate sustainable development into their business.
Sustainable business requires effective harmonization of a Triple Bottom Line (TBL), which
is the environmental, economic, and social areas. Since the TBL is the key element of
sustainable development, firms that carry out sustainable business should not only
understand the TBL, but also integrate it into their policies or strategies and decision-
making processes (Desimone & Popoff, 1998; WBCSD, 2000).
The environmental area consists of environmental impacts related to an organizations
diverse activities, products, and services. These environmental indicators should be
identified in all stages of the organizations full life cycle because they are used to track
environmental progress, support environmental policy evaluation and inform the public.
Examples of environmental indicators are energy and water consumption, air pollution, and
solid and hazardous waste produced.
The economic area includes an organizations economic values and performance that are
explained by economic indicators. The economy provides solutions and methods to invest in
protecting the environment and conservation of natural resources as well as to sustain
society. Examples are annual profits and sales, Research & Development investment, fines,
capital investment, and share values or annual returns.
The social area is related to wider responsibilities that business has to communities within
which it operates and to society in general, including both present and future generations.
Since the importance of social and ethical responsibilities of a company is gradually

1
Sustinablebusiness.Com: SustainableBusiness.com is an organization that provides global news and
networking services to help green business grow, covering all sectors: renewable energy, green
building, sustainable investing, and organics http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/

Indicators of Sustainable Business Practices 179
increasing, its social responsibility has become a constituted element within what society
expects from business. A few international organizations and institutions, such as the
European Commission (EC), have developed and launched a variety of standards relevant
to corporate social and ethical responsibility around the world. For instance, the Social
Accountability 8000 (SA 8000)
2
focused on social and ethical issues, and on Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR). It is not easy to define and quantify social indicators in terms of
physical indicators like economic and environmental indicators. Nevertheless, many firms
have set up a realistic goal to continuously measure these indicators in a comparable
manner across organizations by using qualitative social indicators. These sets of qualitative
social indicators are used to evaluate sustainable business embedded in the concept of
sustainable development. Examples of social indicators are: (i) human development and
welfare (e.g., education and training and health and safety); (ii) equity (e.g., wages, equal
opportunity, and non-discrimination); and (iii) ethical considerations (e.g., human rights
and child labor abolition) (Azapagic, 2003).
2.2 Voluntary communication to the public
A firm that would like to apply sustainable business could voluntarily communicate diverse
performance of their practices to the public because interested parties want to know
information about the firms sustainable business practices (Adams, Houldrin & Slomp,
1999). Voluntary reporting information about firms environmental and social performance
is becoming a powerful and popular tool to communicate with the public because interested
parties can use such information to evaluate firms activities and performance (Feldman,
Soyka, & Ameer, 1996; Sasseville, Willson, & Lawson, 1997). Internal or external reporting
systems can have a significant effect on corporate culture for sustainable business because
they are designed to support positive behaviors in terms of sustainable development.
Since the early 1990s, a few companies, such as Monsanto and Kodak, have disclosed
outcomes of their environmental performance according to their own indicators. However,
the lack of credibility and verifiability of the indicators and outcomes disclosed in these
reports has become a significant problem (Lin & Wang, 2004; Thompson, 2002).
To overcome these problems, in 2002, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) published the
2002 GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines based on the concepts of sustainable
development (Lin & Wang, 2004 ; Thompson, 2002). The GRI guidelines propose principles
and general indicators to report an organizations performance in terms of the TBL:
economic, environmental, and social dimensions. After publishing the GRI guidelines, many
companies like 3M have integrated their own indicators into the GRI guidelines. SmiXXX
(06) said that it used the Global Reporting Initiatives 2002 Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines to increase the credibility of its information and reports. In 2002, the European
Commission (EC) published Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A business
contribution to Sustainable Development. The EC formally defined corporate social
responsibility:

2
Social Accountability 8000: Social Accountability 8000 was developed by the Council on Economic
Priorities Accreditation Agency in 1997. SA8000 is promoted as a voluntary, universal standard for
companies interested in auditing and certifying labour practices in their facilities and those of their
suppliers and vendors. It is designed for independent third party certification
http:// www.mallenbaker.net/csr/CSRfiles/SA8000.html

CSR is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in
their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary
basis. (p. 7)
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standard includes environmental, financial, and
social performance information related to sustainable development. To meet the demands of
the public for corporate social responsibility, many companies, such as Kodak and Ford, are
annually disclosing the performance reports of their sustainable business practices with
different titles, such as Corporate Social report, and Sustainability Report to the public.
2.3 Indicators for sustainable business practices
An indicator is a measurement that shows the status of an environmental, economic, or
social system over time (Redefining Progress, Sustainable Seattle, and Tyler Norris
Associates, 1997). The goals of indicators are:
to monitor and evaluate effectiveness and performance of goals and targets of
sustainable business (Bennett & James,1999; Parris & Kates, 2003);
to communicate to diverse stakeholders (Thompson, 2002). Indicators can help
stakeholders, including the pubic, decision makers, and managers, to assist in decision-
making about sustainable business (Kuhndt & Geibler, 2002); and
to compare actions and performance of firms that may or may not be implementing
sustainable business (Kuhndt & Geibler, 2002).
With these objectives in mind, numerous companies and international organizations, such
as the International Organization for Standardization and the Global Reporting Initiatives,
have developed a set of indicators to measure progress of environmental performance and
sustainable business. Many organizations are using diverse indicators to integrate current
environmental management systems into sustainable business.
Indicators for sustainable business practices can be expressed in many different forms (e.g.,
qualitative or quantitative, general or specific, and absolute or relative), in accordance with
objectives and applications of an indicator. Quantitative indicators are measured in terms of
mass, volume or number of environmental pollutants or physical materials. Examples of
quantitative indicators are total amount of air emissions like CO
2
, or total volume of
hazardous waste. Not all indicators will be quantitative, and some will have to be expressed
qualitatively because they cannot be defined in physical terms (Azapagic & Perdan, 2000).
Qualitative indicators are expressed interpretively. Qualitative indicators include social
dimensions of a firms activities, such as changes in cultural values or equity (Azapagic &
Perdan, 2000). Sustainable business could be described by both qualitative and quantitative
metrics because both are required to explain whether or not an organizations diverse
activities consider or meet human needs and social demands (Daly, 1990; Azapagic &
Perdan, 2000). Thus, many firms are setting up qualitative indicators as a substantial goal to
measure the progress of the firms policies even though qualitative indicators are difficult to
define in physical terms (Azapagic & Perdan, 2000).
Indicators can also be divided into general and specific indicators (Verfaillie & Bidwell,
2000). General indicators are used by businesses across all industries in the world. These
general indicators can be used to measure issues that have already been discussed globally,
such as an international agreement or consensus: Agenda 21, Montreal Protocol, and Kyoto
Protocol (global warming) (Verfaillie & Bidwell, 2000; Muller & Sturm, 2001). General
indicators include energy, water and material consumption, greenhouse gas emissions,
carbon dioxide, methane, and air emissions per unit product. These indicators can be used

to compare one organizations performance against anothers. Specific indicators are defined
differently and measured in accordance to characteristics of each industry or firm (Verfaillie
& Bidwell, 2000). For instance, Chemical Industries Association (2002) established the
Responsible Care (RC) program for companies in the chemical industry. RC is the chemical
industry's global voluntary initiative program.
Indicators for sustainable business practices can be expressed in absolute or relative forms.
Absolute indicators are used to measure a firms quantitative environmental and social
impact related to its activities, products, and services. Thompson (2002) said that absolute
indicators are expressed in terms of measured quantities: total amount of energy consumed
a year, total amount of water consumed, total amount of wastewater, and total amount of
hazardous waste generated. These indicators can provide managers or the pubic with
incomplete information relevant to operational levels because these indicators use a single
value to represent how much a firm has accomplished towards its goals and targets over
time (Bennett & James, 1999). For instance, a firm reduces the total energy consumed this
year by 5% compared to last years total. A manager cannot determine whether or not this
reduction is an environmentally positive result since the reduction of energy could be the
result of other factors, such as reduction of productivity, rather than actual improvements of
environmental activities and technologies. Relative indicators were introduced to address
this problem of absolute indicators.
Relative indicators are expressed in terms of a ratio or proportion that compares an absolute
indicator with another absolute indicator (Thompson, 2002). Azapagic and Perdan (2000)
argue that relative indicators enable firms and interested parties to evaluate improvement
from year to year and figure out more sustainable opportunities and practices. Thus, relative
indicators could help stakeholders understand whether or not a company truly increases
efficiency of emissions by measuring levels of pollutant per unit of production (Bennett &
James, 1999). Examples of relative indicators are eco-efficiency indicators, such as carbon
dioxide emissions per unit of output, ratio of waste per unit of input material, ratio of total
hazardous solid waste per unit of product, etc. These relative indicators can be used to
measure the constant economic value of natural capital stocks. However, Bennett and James
(1999) mentioned that relative indicators also have a problem because they do not show the
total amount of pollutants in terms of absolute values, which could be used as firm to firm
benchmarking. To resolve these problems of absolute and relative indicators, many
companies choose to use both types of indicators to evaluate and report their performance.
3. Data collection
We conducted two surveys. To conduct the first survey, we collected firms annual
performance reports announced to the public through Internet media. There are two reasons
why these performance reports were collected. The first reason is because the changes in the
types of indicators for sustainable business practices were described in those performance
reports. The second one is that the changes in the performance reports announced through
Internet mass media can be used to investigate the extent to which firms have
communicated their performance reports to the public.
Sample performance reports for the first survey were collected from January 1999 to
December 2006. Since the ISO published ISO 14031 Environmental Performance Evaluation -

guidelines in 1999, firms might have gained interest in reporting their environmental
performance beginning in 1999. 2006 is the most current year that firms performance
reports could be collected through firms Internet homepages.
The announcements that were disclosed the performance reports were identified by using
newswire databases; ABI/Inform, Global, Business & Industry, Business & Company
Resource Center, and LexisNexis. The key words used to find the announcement events
were Environmental Performance, Reports, Sustainability, Corporate Social
Responsibility, and Citizenship. The following criteria were used to collect sample data:
Only publicly traded firms on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) were considered;
Companies in the information, finance, and insurance industry were excluded because
their businesses did not generate direct environmental pollution; and
Firms that provide their performance reports (PDF file) were included.
Companies have created and continuously updated their Internet homepages to provide
environmental and social performance reports. After identifying firms that announced their
performance reports, the performance reports of sample firms were collected through each
firms Internet homepage. The Internet Archive Organization
3
was used to find the
performance reports of companies that did not provide previous performance reports
directly from the current homepage. The internet archive organization provides archive data
of a firms Internet homepage according to the day that the firm updated the homepage. The
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was used to classify types of
industries A firms NAICS code categorized by the Wharton Research Data Service (WRDS)
was used.
The indicators for sustainable business practices were selected by reviewing diverse
environmental and sustainable indicator guidelines, such ISO 14031, GRI guidelines, the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Social responsibility,
and other researchers.
The second survey was conducted to identify the current trend in the titles of firms
performance reports. The terms used as key words in titles of firms performance reports
could be used to identify the main themes or strategies of the reports (Bruemmer, 2000).
Performance reports have been given diverse titles, such as Environmental Reports,
Environmental, Health, and Safety Report, Sustainable Reports, Corporate Social
Reports, Citizenship Report, etc. If a firm used Environmental as a key word in the
titles of its performance report, it means that the firm did not set up social and economic
indicators, which are the fundamental indicators of sustainable business. However, if a firm
used the terms, Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability,
and Citizenship as key words, it could indicate that the firm has likely incorporated the
concepts of sustainable development into its business strategies, which is sustainable
business. This is because these terms are evolved from the concept of sustainable
development.
For the second survey, we used S&P 500 firms as of December 2006 that reported their
performance reports to the public in 2007. Since 2006 performance reports, disclosed in 2007,
were the most current reports that could be collected through the Internet, they were chosen
as the sample. Thus, the Internet homepages of S&P 500 sample companies were searched to
identify annual sustainability or environmental reports for 2006. Among S&P 500 firms, a

3
Internet Archive Organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library,
with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical
collections that exist in digital format http://www.archive.org/index.php

few industries (e.g., Information; Finance and Insurance; Real Estate and Rental and
Leasing; Educational Services; and Health Care and Social Assistance) were excluded from
the sample because they neither generated environmental pollution nor had heavy
environmental burdens.
4.1 Changes in indicators for sustainable business
We found eighty-nine announcements eighty-nine announcements published by 40
companies through Internet media. Approximately eighty-eight percent (78
announcements) of the total sample was taken from the manufacturing industries (NAICS
code 31, 32, and 33). The rest of the total samples (21 announcements) was disclosed by
firms in other industries: the mining industry (NAICS code 21), the utilities industry
(NAICS code 22), the miscellaneous store retailers (NAICS code 45), and the couriers and
messengers industry (NAICS code 49). Table 1 presents the distribution of the sampled
companies based on the NAICS. Table 2 lists the types of manufacturing industries. Of the

NAICS Year Total
Title
(Two digit)
Three
digit
'99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 Number %
Mining (21) 212

1 1 1 3 3.4%
Utilities (22) 221

2 2 4 4.5%
Manufacturing
(31,32,33)
311

1 3 4
87.6%
312

1 1 1 3
316

1

2 1 4
321

1 1 1

3
322

1

2 3
324

1

2 1 4 3 11
325 1

1 1 3 3 2 3 14
331

1 2 1 2 2 8
333 1

1

2 4
334

1

2 1 3 2 9
335

1 1 2
336

1 1 1

2 5 3 13
Miscellaneous
Store Retailers(45)
453

1 1 1.1%
Couriers and
Messengers (49)
492

1

1 1 3 3.4%
Total

2 1 5 4 11 12 26 28 89

Table 1. Distribution of Sampled Companies Based on the NAICS


NAICS Type of Manufacturing Number (%)
311
312
316
321
322
324
325
331
333
334
335
336
Food Manufacturing
Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing
Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing
Wood Product Manufacturing
Paper Manufacturing
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
Chemical Manufacturing
Primary Metal Manufacturing
Machinery Manufacturing
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
4 (5%)
3 (4%)
4 (5%)
3 (4%)
3 (4%)
11 (14%)
14 (18%)
8 (10%)
4 (5%)
9 (12%)
2 (3%)
13(17%)
Total 78

Table 2. Types of Manufacturing in the Sample Announcements
78 announcements in the manufacturing industries, 55 announcements (71%) are from firms
in petroleum and coal products manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, primary metal
manufacturing, computer and electronic products manufacturing, and transportation
equipment manufacturing. The main reason why firms in these manufacturing industries
have disclosed their performance reports more often than in other industries is that firms
producing final consumer goods proactively meet needs and avoid potentially adverse
stakeholders reactions (Anton, Deltas & Khanna, 2004). Anton et al. (2004) said that firms
that produce consumer goods are pressured by environmental interests more than firms that
produce industrial goods. To proactively respond to the increasing environmental pressures
and social responsibilities, firms producing consumer goods have actively communicated
their environmental and social information to their interested parties.
We could not find many announcements in the mining sector related to the disclosure of
environmental or sustainable performance reports during 1999 to 2006. Three
announcements were reported by one firm, BXXX Ltd. Other firms in this industry have
reported and provided their environmental performance reports on their Internet
homepages. For instance, CXXX has reported the performance of a few environmental and
social indicators relevant to sustainable development on its Internet homepage. It has
monitored the performance of environmental and social indicators since 2005.
Since the utilities industry has to use natural capital to produce their products, such as
electric power, natural gas, and fuel, it is one of the critical industries for sustaining society,
doing business, and for activities such as the operation of factories and the routine activities
of daily life. We found just four announcements in the utilities industry that were reported
by. It does not seem that many firms in this industry proactively communicate their
performance reports to the public. However, they have started disclosing their performance
reports on Internet homepages since 2005 or 2006. For example, SXXX Company began
providing its Corporate Responsibility Reports in 2006. To proactively respond to the
increasing requirements of firms performance reports, they might realize that they should
disclose their social and environmental performance reports.

OXXX in the miscellaneous store retailers industry announced its performance reports based
on the concept of sustainable development and business in 2006. Some firms in this industry
have also reported their environmental or sustainability performance reports. For instance,
StaXXX Inc. has been reporting its corporate responsibility, which includes a few sustainable
business indicators, on its Internet homepage since 2006.
There were three announcements of environmental or sustainable performance reports in
the couriers and messengers industry. They were reported by UXXX. UXXX has disclosed its
sustainability reports since 2003. Like the utilities industry and the miscellaneous store
retailers industry, a few firms like FXXX had provided their environmental or sustainable
performance reports on their Internet homepages.
4.1.1 Increasing announcements
Figure 1 shows the trends of the announcements of the disclosure of firms performance
reports during 1999 to 2006. We did not find many firms that announced their performance
reports through diverse Internet media even though they began reporting their
environmental performance in the early 2000s. This is consistent with previous studies.
When Hamilton (1995) studied how media and stock market responded to the disclosure of
the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data, he used 50 firms that reported TRI data through the
media. This indicates that firms did not progressively communicate their environmental
information to the public. Firms did not use various communication tools to inform the
public about their environmental performance reports. According to Figure 1, the number of
announcements of the disclosure of firms performance reports has been gradually
increasing since 2003. Firms that announced performance reports before 2002 were in the
manufacturing industry. From 2003, firms in other industries, such as the couriers and
messengers, the mining, and the utilities industries, started announcing their performance
reports through diverse Internet media. There are two reasons why the number of
announcements of firms performance reports might have increased since 2003.

Fig. 1. Trends of the Announcements from 1999 to 2006
The first reason is that after 2003 firms might have recognized that voluntarily announcing
their performance reports by using various Internet media is a powerful tool to inform the
public of their performance reports (Feldman et al, 1996; Sasseville et al., 1997). Firms can
2
1
5
4
11
12
26
28
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
'99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06
Year
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

E
v
e
n
t

use their socially and environmentally friendly management activities as key information in
their marketing strategies because environmental and social information has been gaining
significance as a marketing tool since the early 2000s. Another reason is that a few
international guidelines relevant to the disclosure of environmental, social, and economic
performance reports have been published since 2002, such as the 2002 GRI Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines which is the fundamental guidelines of all GRI documents (GRI, 2004).
The 2002 GRI guidelines included more detailed performance indicators of three sustainability
dimensions (economic, environmental, and social) than the 2000 GRI guidelines first published
by the GRI in 2000. Thus, many firms have actively adopted the 2002 GRI guidelines not only
to voluntarily implement sustainable business, but also to voluntarily communicate the
performance of sustainable business. After publishing the GRI guidelines, many global firms
have integrated their own indictors into the GRI guidelines to meet the needs of their
interested parties. For example, UXXX announced its first corporate social responsibility report
with the title Operating in Unison UXXX 2002 Corporate Sustainability Report on Nov 14,
2003. In this report, they mentioned, We used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as the
foundation for writing our first Corporate Sustainability Report.
4.1.2 Identifying sustainable business indicators (SBIs)
After reviewing diverse environmental and sustainable indicator guidelines, such as the GRI
guidelines, a total of 90 general indicators were selected. Table 3 shows the list of 90 general
indicators. These general indicators were separated into seven categories in order to identify
absolute and relative indicators types for sustainable business based on the TBL: 22
Environmental indicators; 14 economic indicators; 16 social indicators; 15 economic and
environmental (eco-efficient) indicators; 7 social and environmental (socio-environmental)
indicators; 6 social and economic (socio-economic) indicators; and 10 environmental,
economic and social (integrated) indicators.
Environmental, economic, and social indicators are absolute indicators. Eco-efficient, socio-
environmental, socio-economic, and integrated indicators are relative indicators used to
implement sustainable business practices. Socio-environmental indicators are focused on
environmental impacts that affect social impacts, and vice versa. Azar, Holmberg, and
Lindgren (1996) mentioned that the goal of the socio-environmental indicators is to serve as
a tool in planning and decision-making processes at various managerial levels within
society. Socio-economic indicators are related to the relationship between a firms economic
activities and social effects. Socio-economic requires firms not only to consider one or more
social impacts, but also one or more economic impacts (Etzioni, 2003). Unlike socio-
environmental and socio-economic indicators, eco-efficient indicators are more easily
understood and quantified than those of the socio-environmental and socio-economic
indicators. Eco-efficient indicators incorporated with environmental and economic
indicators mean businesss activities that increase economic values while decreasing
ecological impacts and using natural capital stocks (Desimone & Popoff, 1998). Integrated
indicators are comprehensively incorporated with economic, environmental, and social
issues of the TBL. They are systematic and fundamental indicators that are built from the
concepts of sustainable business as well as supporting the other indicators.
To identify the general indicators for sustainable business, a pilot survey was conducted.
This pilot survey was implemented by identifying whether or not each indicator of 90
general indicators was popularly reported in each pilot sample, which is a firms report. Of
the 89 sample firms reports, 38 performance reports disclosed in 2004 and 2005 were
selected as pilot samples in order to select a sample of firms in the industries that

significantly affect environmental and social impacts, such as the mining, utilities, and
manufacturing industries. Firms in the mining industry started announcing their
performance reports in 2004 and firms in the utility industries announced their performance
reports in 2005 through Internet media. General indicators that were reported in over 60% of
the samples of the pilot survey are defined as sustainable business indicators (SBIs) for this
research. Table 3 shows the results of the pilot survey.
Based on Table 3, the distribution of general indicators in each category is as follows: 9
environmental indicators; 5 economic indicators; 10 social indicators: and 5 integrated
indicators. We did not find relative indicators, such as socio-environmental and socio-
economic indicators that were reported in over 60% of the pilot sample. Based on the results

Indicators
Reporting
(%)
Not
Reporting(%)
E
n
v
i
r
o
n
m
e
n
t
a
l

1)Total amount of water used
2)Total amount of materials used to package product
3)Total amount of materials used to produce products
4)Total amount of renewable resources used
5)Total amount of non-renewable resources used
6)Total amount of recycled or reused materials used
7)Total amount of energy used
8)Total amount of renewable energy used
9)Total amount of non-renewable energy used (oil)
10)Concentration of a specific contaminant in tissue of a specific plant
species found in the local or regional area
11)Habitats protected or restored
12)Strategies, current actions, and future plans for managing impacts on
biodiversity
13)Total amount of greenhouse gases generated (CO2)
14)Total amount of emissions of ozone-depleting substances
15)Total amount of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) generated
16)Total amount of air emissions generated (SOx, NOx)
17)Total amount of waste recycled or reused
18)Total amount of solid waste generated
19)Total amount of hazardous waste generated
20)Total number and volume of significant spills and accidents
21)Total amount of wastewater
22)Total number of environmental violations
34(90%)
14(37%)
8(21%)
7(18%)
0(0%)
15(40%)
35(92%)
20(53%)
12(32%)
17(45%)

20(53%)
16 (42%)

38(100%)
18(47%)
24(63%)
28(74%)
26(68%)
32(84%)
31(82%)
21(55%)
16(42%)
30(79%)
4(10%)
24(63%)
30(79%)
31(82%)
38(100%)
23(60%)
3( 8%)
18(47%)
26(68%)
21 (55%)

18(47%)
22(58%)

0(0%)
20(53%)
14(37%)
10(26%)
12(32%)
6(16%)
7(18%)
17 (45%)
22(58%)
8(21%)
E
c
o
n
o
m
i
c

1)Annual profits
2)Annual revenues
3)Annual sales
4)Annual operating costs (based on EHS)
5)Costs saving (based on EHS)
6)Capital expenditure (environmental)
7)Annual productivity
8)Fines
9)R & D investment (Based on EHS)
10)R & D investment (total)
11)Donations
12)Annual turnover
13)Value added
14)Stock price/dividends
23(61%)
18(47%)
30(79%)
14(37%)
8(21%)
11(29%)
15(40%)
28(74%)
8(21%)
24(63%)
37(97%)
3(8%)
0(0%)
19(50%)
15(39.5%)
20(52.6%)
8(21.1%)
24(63.2%)
30(78.9%)
27(71%)
23(60%)
10(26%)
30(79%)
14(37%)
1(3%)
35(92%)
38(100%)
19(50%)

Indicators
Reporting
(%)
Not
Reporting(%)
S
o
c
i
a
l

1)Female, disabled persons rights
2)Abolition of all child labor
3)The recruitment of people from ethnic minorities, older workers, women
4)Empowerment of employees
5)Average hours of training per employee
6)Number of employees
7)Employment creation
8)Employment turn over
9)Recordable Illness rate (RIR)
10)Lost time Rate (LTR)
11)Total number of work-related fatalities
12)Whether or not firms implement a broad range of voluntary activities
13)Whether or not firms provide opportunities to communicate internally
and externally to interested parties
14)Breakdown of employees in terms of gender, age, and minority group
15)Ratio of basic salary of men to women by employee category
16) Whether or not equity was mentioned
26(68%)
21(55%)
26(68%)
23(61%)
26(68%)
33(87%)
20(53%)
12(32%)
27(71%)
25(66%)
20(53%)
35(92%)
31(82%)

27(71%)
10(26%)
7(18%)
12(32%)
17 (45%)
12(32%)
15(40%)
12(32%)
5 (13%)
18 (47%)
26(68%)
11 (29%)
13(34%)
18(47%)
3( 8%)
7(18%)

11 (29%)
28(74%)
31(82%)
S
o
c
i
a
l
-
E
n
v
i
r
o
n
m
e
n
t
a
l

1)Training time/total amount of solid waste generated
2)Employees training time /total amount of energy used
3)Total solid waste/employee
4)Total amount of energy used /employee
5)Voluntary activities/total amount of energy used
6)Recordable illness rate/total amount of energy used
7)Lost time rate/total amount of energy used
3(8%)
2(5%)
5(13%)
3(8%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
35(92%)
36(95%)
33(87%)
35(92%)
38(100%)
38 100%)
38(100%)
S
o
c
i
a
l

e
c
o
n
o
m
i
c

1)Training time of employee per profit
2)Sales per employee
3)Lost time rate per profits
4)Donations per sales
5)Donations per profit
6)Donations per revenue
2(5%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
36(95%)
38 (100%)
38(100%)
38(100%)
38(100%)
38(100%)
E
c
o
-
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

1)Total amount of material used / sales
2)Total amount of material used /profits
3)Total amount of solid waste /revenue
4)Total amount of non-renewable energy used / sales
5)Total amount of non-renewable energy used / sales
6)Total amount of non-renewable energy used / revenues
7)Total amount of energy used / sales
8)Total amount of energy used /revenues
9)Total amount of toxic materials generated/sales
10)Total amount of toxic materials generated /profits
11)Total amount of material recycled and reused/ales
12)Total amount of material recycled and reused /revenue
13)Total amount of global warming materials generated/sales
14)Total amount of global warming materials generated/profits
15)Total amount of global warming materials generated/ revenue
1(3%)
1(3%)
1(3%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
21(55%)
1(3%)
2(5%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
0(0%)
37(97%)
37(97%)
37 (97%)
38 (100%)
38 (100%)
38(100%)
17(45%)
37(97%)
36 (95%)
38 (100%)
38(100%)
38(100%)
38(100%)
38(100%)
38(100%)

Indicators
Reporting
(%)
Not
Reporting(%)
I
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d

1)Whether or not firms implement voluntary environmental management
systems (ISO 14001, LCA, etc)
2)Whether or not firms implement environmental accounting
3)Whether or not firms make decisions based on the concept of sustainable
business and long-term objective
4)Whether or not firms enlighten consumers and suppliers for the concept
of sustainable business
5)Whether or not firms deal with the impact on the Third World
6)Whether or not being verified their performance reports by third parties
7)Whether or not firms compare GRI
8)Whether or not firms mention culture
9)Whether or not firms survey in the reports (feedback)
10)Whether or not firms compare performance based on standard year (tota
l values/relative values)
28(74%)

2(5%)
29(76%)

27(71%)

16(42%)
14(37%)

25(66%)
28(74%)
16(42%)
21(55%)
10(26%)

36(95%)
9(24%)

11(29%)

22 (58%)
24(63%)

13(34%)
10(26%)
22(58%)
17 (45%)
Table 3. The List of 90 General Indicators and the Results of Pilot Survey (Sustainable
Business Indicators over 60% of the sample) (N=38)
of the pilot survey, firms were not familiar with relative indicators. Since many firms had
already measured and reported absolute indicators, absolute indicators made up a larger
proportion of the SBIs than relative indicators such as socio-economic and socio-
environmental indicators. With 29 SBIs identified from the pilot survey, a full survey was
conducted to identify SBIs in the total sample of 89 firms reports. Table 4 shows the results
of the full survey.
4.1.3 Changes in sustainable business indicators disclosed in performance
Eighty-nine sample companies were separated into two categories, category I (1999 ~ 2002)
and category II (2003~2006), to compare the trends of sustainable business indicators over a
time period. These two categories were divided based on the year 2003 because the number
of firms that announced their performance reports increased beginning in 2003. To compare
the trends of sustainable business indicators, we chose firms in the manufacturing industries
because all firms in category I were in the manufacturing industries. Among the 89 sample
companies, the 78 announcements disclosed by the manufacturing industries were divided
into category I (12 firms) and category II (66 firms).
To identify the changes in SBIs used in manufacturing firms, we added four indicators to the
previously defined 29 sustainable business indicators; total amount of renewable energy used
(solar energy, clean energy); whether or not firms describe environmentally friendly product
or process; abolition of all child labor; and whether or not firms use relative indicators (eco-
efficiency). Although some of these four indicators were not reported at over 60% in the pilot
survey, they are considered necessary by the authors as indicators to evaluate the
characteristics of sustainable business. Total amount of renewable energy used and whether or
not firms develop or describe environmentally friendly product or process are used to evaluate
whether or not firms apply diverse technologies to implement sustainable business; whether
or not firms use relative indicators, such as eco-efficiency, is used to identify the consistency of
natural capital stocks; and abolition of all child labor is used to evaluate the social performance
of sustainable business. Thus, we used a total of 33 SBIs to identify the trends of sustainable
business indicators of firms in the manufacturing industries. The trends of sustainable
business indicators used in category I and category II is shown in Table 5.

Indicators
No. of Firms Reporting (%) No. of Firms
Not
Reporting
(%)
Quant.
indicator
Qual.
indicator
Sub-total
E
n
v
i
r
o
n
m
e
n
t
a
l

I
n
d
i
c
t
o
r
s

1)Total amount of water used 66 13 79(89%) 10(11%)
2)Total amount of energy used 69 16 85(96%) 4(4%)
3)Total amount of greenhouse gases generated (CO2) 70 17 87(98%) 2(2%)
4)Total amount of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)
generated
38 16 54(61%) 35(39%)
5)Total amount of air emissions generate (SOx, NOx) 65 14 79(89%) 10 (11%)
6)Total amount of waste recycled or reused 51 26 77(87%) 12(13%)
7)Total amount of solid waste generated 54 28 82(92%) 7(8%)
8)Total amount of hazardous waste generated 56 19 75(84%) 14 (16%)
9)Total number of environmental violations 44 24 68(76%) 21(24%)
E
c
o
n
o
m
i
c

I
n
d
i
c
a
t
o
r
s

1)Annual profits 44 13 57(64%) 32(36%)
2)Annual sales 68 12 80(90%) 9(10%)
3)Fines 49 12 61(69%) 28(31%)
4)R & D investment (total) 30 22 52(58%) 37(42%)
5)Donations 52 3 85(96%) 4(4%)
S
o
c
i
a
l

I
n
d
i
c
a
t
o
r
s

1)Female, disabled persons rights 0 59 59(66%) 30(34%)
2)The recruitment of people from ethnic minorities, older
workers, women
0 56 56(63%) 33(37%)
3)Empowerment of employees 0 58 58(65%) 31(35%)
4)Average hours of training/ employee 4 71 75(84%) 14(16%)
5)Number of employees 61 20 81(91%) 8(9%)
6)Recordable illness rate (RIR) 68 2 70(79%) 19(21%)
7)Lost time rate (LTR) 64 1 65(73%) 24(27%)
8)Whether or not firms implement a broad range of
voluntary activities
0 82 82(92%) 7(8%)
9)Whether or not firms provide opportunities to
communicate internally and externally to interested
parties
0 78 78(88%) 11(12%)
10)Breakdown of employees in terms of gender, age, and
minority group
0 55 55(62%) 34 (38%)
I
n
t
e
g
r
a
t
e
d

I
n
d
i
c
a
t
o
r
s

(
r
e
f
e
r
e
n
c
e
)

1)Whether or not firms implement voluntary
environmental management systems (ISO 14001, LCA,
etc)
0 6 68(76%) 21(24%)
2)Whether or not firms make decisions based on the
concept of sustainable business and long-term objective
0 74 74(83%) 15(17%)
3)Whether or not firms enlighten consumers and
suppliers for the concept of sustainable business
0 71 71(80%) 18(20%)
4)Whether or not firms compare GRI 0 60 60(67%) 29(33%)
5)Whether or not firms mention Culture 0 71 71(80%) 18 (20%)
Table 4. List of the Sustainable Business Indicators (SBIs) (1999 ~ 2006) (N=89)


Table 5. Changes in Sustainable Business Indicators Used in Category I and II





Key Words in the Titles in Category I
(1999 ~ 2002)
Key Words in the Titles in Category II
(2003 ~ 2006)
Environmental /
Environmental,
Health, and Safety
Sustainability Total
Environmental /
Environmental,
Health, and Safety
Sustainability Total
5 (42%) 7 (58%) 12 11 (17%) 55 (83%) 66
Table 6. Changes in Key Words Used in the Title of Performance Reports in Category
I and II
Daly (1990) and Azapagic and Perdan (2005) said that sustainable development should be
described by qualitative as well as quantitative measurement because it is required to
explain whether or not an organizations diverse activities consider or meet human needs
and social demands. We also found that firms in category I and II used both qualitative and
quantitative indicators in their sustainable business performance reports.
In category II, most social and integrated indicators except for four social indicators and one
integrated indicator were qualitative indicators. Two quantitative social indicators, the
Recordable Illness Rate (RIR) and the Lost Time Rate (LTR), are used to evaluate firms
occupational safety and health. The recordable illness rate is the number of full-time
employees suffering a recordable injury or illness during a given calendar year. The LTR is
measured as the number of lost time claims per million hours worked

and allows analysis of
the number of lost time claims without the distorting effects of the size of the workforce.
4.1.3.1 Consistency of natural capital
The consistency of natural capital stocks can be measured by identifying the changes in the
constant physical capital stocks, such as renewable energy and resources. This is because
constant physical capital stock is one of the two concepts of the consistency of natural
capital stock (Pearce, Barbier, & Markandya, 1990). Accordingly, the amount of renewable
energy used in firms is a sustainable business indicator. Examples of renewable energy used
in firms performance reports are wind, solar energy, hydrogen energy, and biogas. Based
on Table 5, firms in category I reported the performance of this indicator by 25%, but firms
in category II reported it by about 71%. Since 2003, many firms in category II had increased
the use of renewable energy while they reduced the use of non-renewable energy. In the
Corporate Responsibility Report 2005, STXXX electronics (2006) reported that they increased
the use of wind and solar energy from 18.6GWh in 2003 and 30.5GWh in 2004. In the 2004
Sustainability Report published in 2005, POTXXX Corporate reported that it has started
using renewable energy in 2004.
The consistency of the natural capital stock can also be measured by identifying a constant
economic value, which is another concept of the consistency of natural capital stock (Pearce
et al., 1990). We found firms that disclosed different eco-efficient indicators in their
performance reports, such as energy efficiency, the amount of pollution per dollar, etc.
Based on Table 5, only 25% of the sample firms in category I disclosed eco-efficient
indicators in their performance reports, while about 85% of the sample firms disclosed them
in category II. Many firms in category II reported eco-efficient indicators, such as energy
efficiency, in their performance reports. This is consistent with what WBCSD (2005) and
Desimone and Popoff (1998) stated. They said that firms can integrate sustainable

development into their business by applying constant economic values of the natural capital
stocks, such as eco-efficient indicators.
By providing the performance of various eco-efficient indicators, firms can help interested
parties understand how effectively physical natural capital stocks, such as energy, have
been used to retain an appropriate level of natural capital stock. For instance, AnhXXX
Company (2006) measured and reported a few eco-efficient indicators, such as energy
efficiency in 1,000 gig Joules (gJs) per million dollars Adjusted Net Sales (ANS), and
Hazardous waste generated in kg per million dollars ANS. BaXXX Inc. (2005) defined
energy efficiency as cumulative % improvement in energy use per unit of production value
and reported that energy efficiency increased from 12% in 2002 to 22% in 2004.
Most firms in category I used absolute indicators, such as the total amount of energy
consumed, rather than relative indicators, while firms in category II used absolute indicators
as well as relative indicators, such as eco-efficient indicators based on their own firms
characteristics. This is because firms in category I did not have diverse and sufficient
guidelines for relative indicators. After a few international guidelines, such as the GRI
guidelines, were published in 2002, firms had opportunities to use or consider relative
indicators, such as various eco-efficient indicators. Those guidelines have introduced and
proposed diverse relative indicators, such as eco-efficient indicators. By comparing firms
that used eco-efficient indicators in category I and II, we found that firms in category II may
have proactively monitored and improved the level of consistency of natural capital stocks
by setting up and evaluating eco-efficiency more so than firms in category I.
4.1.3.2 Culture for sustainable business
We found firms that had described their culture for sustainable business practices. This is
consistent with what the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) et al.
(1992) and what Welford (1995) emphasized. They asserted that a firm should change its
corporate culture to implement sustainable business practices. They also proposed some
examples of corporate culture: employee participation in decision-making processes, the
equitable treatment of women and minority groups, communication with the public, and
the impact on the Third World and indigenous populations. We found these examples as
SBIs. Table 5 shows the trends of these indicators in category I and II.
We searched the terms, Empower, Participation, and Decision, to identify whether or
not firms allow employee participation in the decision making process. Firms in category I
and II reported that they involved their employees in their decision making process by
empowering employees. While 62% of samples firms in category II reported that they
involved their employees in their decision making process by empowering employees, only
about 8% of sample firms in category I described the empowerment of employees. For
instance, SXXXX Inc. in category II addressed, Within this culture, employees are
empowered and strongly encouraged to use their skills and experience to find better ways
of doing business (Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2005, p. 4). The CoXXX
Company in category II also stated that its employees are empowered to keep the highest
standards of quality in products, processes and relationships in 2006 Corporate
Responsibility Review. STXXX electronics Company in category I did not mention employee
empowerment in Corporate Environmental Report and Social Review 2001. However,
STXXX electronics Company (2006) in category II stated that employee empowerment is one
of the key principles for its sustainable business in their corporate responsibility report.

We found one indicator; breakdown of employees in terms of gender, age group, and minority
group membership, as one of the SBIs. This indictor can be used to identify the equitable
treatment of women and minority groups which is one aspect of corporate culture that the
IISD et al. (1992) proposed. Firms in category II reported this indicator by 80% of the firms, and
firms in category I described it 50% of the firms. STXXX electronics Company in category I did
not mention diversity and equitable opportunity of women and minority in Corporate
Environmental report and Social Review 2001. However, in category II, it reported that it not
only ensured diversity and equal opportunity, but also disclosed the changes in percentage of
average employee age and seniority, number of nationalities by regions, and gender
breakdown by regions in Corporate Responsibility Report 2005 and 2006.
4.1.3.3 Harmonization of the triple bottom line
Table 5 presents the trends of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) used in firms performance
reports in category I and category II. Sustainable business indicators that were reported in
over 60% of sample firms in category I are: 9 environmental indicators (82% of total
environmental indicators); 2 economic indicators (40% of total economic indicators); 5social
indicators (45% of total social indicators); and one integrated indicator (20% of total
integrated indicators). Firms in category I focused more on the environmental indicators,
rather than social and economic indicators. On the other hand, many firms in category II
described environmental indicators as well as economic and social indicators in their
performance reports. Based on Table 5, all sustainable business indicators were reported in
over 60% of all sample firms in category II. For example, 17% of firms in category I and 62%
of firms in category II reported abolition of child labor. Only about 8% of firms in category I
mentioned empowerment of employees in their performance reports, but firms in category
II reported it by approximately 65%. Figure 2 shows the harmonization of the TBL used in
firms in category I and II. It seems that most firms in category I focused more on
environmental indicators and firms in category II tried to harmonize the TBL. Based on
Table 6, about 42% of firms in category I used the term, Environmental, Environmental,
health, and safety as key words in the titles of their performance reports. While
approximately 58% of sample firms in category I used the term Sustainability or
Corporate social responsibility as a key word in the title of their performance reports, about
83% of sample firms in category II used the term. These changes indicate that many firms have
shifted the key words in the title of their performance reports from the concept of
environmental performance to the concept of sustainable business practices, which is based on
the concept of the TBL. For instance, STXXX electronics Company used Environmental
Report as the title of its performance reports in 2001 and Social and Environmental Report
in 2003. In 2004, STXXX electronics Company first used the term, Corporate Responsibility
Report 2004 as the title of its performance reports on sustainable business practices.
4.1.3.4 Sustainability enlightenment
Young (2000) insisted that sustainable business enlightens its interested parties, such as
investors, customers, and employees, on the concept of sustainable business practices. This
is because interested parties have significant roles in changing traditional consumption,
purchasing, and investing behaviors toward sustainable business practices. We found firms
behaviors that are consistent with Youngs (2000) findings. Based on Table 5, 83% of firms in
category II and 33% of firms in category I reported that they enlightened their interested
parties, such as customers, suppliers, investors, and employees about the concepts of
sustainable business. It seems that firms in category II progressively enlightened their


EN1:Total amount of water used;EN2:Total amount of energy used;EN3:Total amount of greenhouse gases generated
(CO2);EN4:Total amount of Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) generated;EN5:Total amount of air emissions
generated (SOx, NOx);EN6:Total amount of waste recycled or reused;EN7:Total amount of solid waste
generated;EN8:Total amount of hazardous waste generated;EN9:Total number of environmental violations;EN10:
Total amount of renewable energy used (clean fuel, solar energy, clean energy);EN11:whether or not firms describe
environmentally friendly product or process;EC1:Annual profits;EC2:Annual sales;EC3:Fines;EC4:R&D investment
(total);EC5:Donations;SO1:Female, disabled persons rights;SO2: Abolition of all child labor; SO3:The recruitment of
people from ethnic minorities, older workers, women;SO4:Empowerment of employees;SO5:Average hours of training
per employee;SO6:Number of employees; SO7:Recordable illness rate (RIR);SO8:Lost time rate (LTR);SO9:Whether or
not firms implement a broad range of voluntary activities;SO10:Whether or not firms provide opportunities to
communicate internally and externally to interested parties;SO11:Breakdown of employees in terms of gender, age,
and minority group; I1:Whether or not firms implement voluntary environmental management systems (ISO 14001,
LCA, etc);I2:Whether or not firms make decisions based on the concept of sustainable business and long-term
objective;I3:Whether or not firms enlighten consumers and suppliers for the concept of sustainable
business;I4:Whether or not firms compare GRI;I5:Whether or not firms mention culture;I6:Whether or not firms used
relative indicators (eco-efficiency)
Fig. 2. Trend of Sustainable Business Indicators Reported in Category I and II

interested parties on sustainable business practices more so than firms in category I did. For
instance, in their 2006 Citizenship Report, GeXXX Electronic Co. reported that it had
required their suppliers to consider the concepts of sustainable business since 2002 by
complying with laws and regulations governing minimum wage, hours of service, and
overtime wages for employees. GeXXX Electronic Co. (2007) introduced The Spirit & The
Letter polices so that GeXXX Electronic Co. could help its interested parties, such as
employees, suppliers, and customers, understand the common standards of behaviors
required to implement sustainable business practices of GeXXX Electronic Co. In KimXXXs
2005 Sustainability Report, KimXXX Corporation reported that they enlightened and shared
tools and technologies with suppliers to meet its social and environmental requirements that
are sustainable business practices.
4.1.3.5 Voluntary programs and communication to the public
We identified whether or not a firm implemented diverse voluntary programs as an
indicator to evaluate a firms sustainable business, and found that most of the firms in
category I and II have implemented and reported a variety of voluntary programs. This is
consistent with Thompson (2002) and Scott (2001). They found that sustainable business
should implement diverse voluntary programs to build strong relationships with
stakeholders, increase a firms image and reputation, and consider ethical investment for
individual investors and fund managers. In Table 5, about 83% of firms in category I and
97% of firms in category II reported their diverse voluntary programs. In their 2005
Sustainability Report, KimXXX Corporation disclosed that it voluntarily joined the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agencys Climate Leaders program in December 2005. GeXXX
Company reported that it had implemented various voluntary greenhouse gas management
initiatives to mitigate global climate change in their Corporate Responsibility Report of
2004/5. Many firms in category II implemented their voluntary programs especially for
people employed in developing countries. AlXX X Inc. and KimXXX Corporation disclosed
that they voluntarily implemented HIV/AIDS programs and management systems at places
where they operate their facilities in South Africa. The goal of these programs is to help
employees and their families undergo voluntary counseling and confidential testing for
HIV/AIDS. The increasing number of voluntary HIV/AIDS programs implemented in
developing countries is consistent with changes in corporate culture that the IISD et al.
(1992) and Welford (1995) suggested in order to implement sustainable business.
Many firms in category II have voluntarily applied to the GRI guidelines to report the
performance of their sustainable business practices. AlcXXX Inc. reported that it voluntarily
used the GRI guidelines to help its interested parties to understand its sustain able business
practices in 2004 Sustainability Report.
4.2 Changes in the key words of the performance titles
Data from a total of 287 firms were collected as sample data among all S&P 500 companies,
as of December 2006. The following words were used to codify the results: Environmental;
Report; Environmental, Health, and Safety Report; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility;
Corporate Report; and Citizenship Report. The results of these codes are separated into 3
categories; E (environmental report); EHS (environmental, health, and safety reports);
Sustainability (sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable report).
Sustainability, corporate social responsibility, corporate report, and sustainable report mean
that the firm considered the concept of sustainable business because these words evolved
from the concept of sustainable development. Table 7 presents the trends in key word usage

NAICS Reporting
Not
Reporting
Total
Title(2 digit) Title(3 digit) E E, H, S
Sustain
ability
Sub-
total
Agriculture,
Forestry,
Fishing and
Hunting (11)
Crop Production (111) 0(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1
(100%)
0
(0%)
1

Forestry and Logging (113)
1
(100%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
0
(0%)
1

Sub-total
1
(50%)
0
(0%)
1
(50%)
2
(100%)
0
(0%)
2

Mining (21)
Oil and Gas Extraction
(211)
0
(0%)
2
(40%)
3
(60%)
5
(62%)
3
(38%)
8

Mining (except Oil and
gas)(212)
1
(33%)
0
(0%)
2
(67%)
3
(75%)
1
(25%)
4

Support Activities for
Mining (213)
0
(0%)
2
(50%)
2
(50%)
4
(57%)
3
(43%)
7

Sub-total
1
(8%)
4
(33%)
7
(58%)
12
(63%)
7
(37%)
19

Utilities(22) Utilities (221)
7
(28%)
6
(24%)
12
(48%)
25
(78%)
7
(22%)
32

Construction
(23)
Construction of Buildings
(236)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1
(20%)
4
(80%)
5

Heavy and Civil
Engineering Construction
(237)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
2
(100%)
2

Sub-total
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1
(14%)
6
(86%)
7

Manufacturing
(31,32,33)
Food (311)

1
(14%)
2
(29%)
4
(57%)
7
(50%)
7
(50%)
14

Beverage and Tobacco
Product (312)
3
(60%)
0
(0%)
2
(40%)
5
(50%)
5
(50%)
10

Apparel (315)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
4
(100%)
4

Leather and Allied Product
(316)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1
(50%)
1
(50%)
2

Wood Product
(321)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1
(100%)
0
(0%)
1

Paper (322)
0
(0%)
1
(25)
3
(75%)
4
(57%)
3
(43%)
7
Printing and Related
Support Activities (323)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1
Petroleum and
Coal Product (324)
0
(0%)
3
(43%)
4
(57%)
7
(88%)
1
(12%)
8
Chemical (325)
0
(0%)
5
(19%)
22
(81%)
27
(64%)
15
(36%)
42
Plastics and
Rubber Product (326)
0
(0%)
1
(33%)
2
(67%)
3
(75%)
1
(25%)
4

Primary Metal
(331)
1
(50%)
0
(0%)
1
(50%)
2
(40%)
3
(60%)
5

NAICS Reporting
Not
Reporting
Total
Title(2 digit) Title(3 digit) E E, H, S
Sustain
ability
Sub-
total
Fabricated Metal
Product (332)
0
(0%)
1
(33%)
2
(67%)
3
(60%)
2
(40%)
5

Machinery (333) 0
(0%)
1
(17%)
5
(83%)
6
(38%)
10
(62%)
16

Manufacturing
(31,32,33)
Computer and
Electronic Product (334)
2
(9%)
3
(14%)
17
(77%)
22
(37%)
37
(63%)
59

Electrical Equipment,
Appliance and Component
(335)
0
(0 %)
0
(0%)
2
(100%)
2
(40%)
3
(60%)
5

Transportation
Equipment (336)
1
(11%)
3
(33%)
5
(56%)
9
(60%)
6
(40%)
15

Furniture and Related
Product (337)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1
(50%)
1
(50%)
2

Miscellaneous
(339)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
3
(100%)
3
(33%)
6
(67%)
9

Sub-total
8
(8%)
20
(19%)
75
(73%)
103
(49%)
106
(51%)
209

Transportation
and
Warehousing
(48,49)
Air transportation
(481)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
1

Rail Transportation (482) 1
(100 %)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(25%)
3
(75%)
4

Water Transportation
(483)
1
(100%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(100%)
0
(0%)
1

Pipeline Transportation
(486)
1
(33%)
2
(67%)
0
(0%)
3
(100%)
0
(0%)
3

Couriers and
Messengers(492)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
2
(100%)
2
(100%)
0
(0%)
2

Sub-total
3
(43%)
2
(29%)
2
(28%)
7
(64%)
4
(36%)
11

Accommodati
on
and Food
Service (72)
Accommodation (721)
1
(100%)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
1
(33%)
2
(67%)
3

Food Services and
Drinking Places (722)
0
(0%)
0
(0%)
2
(100%)
2
(50%)
2
(50%)
4

Sub-total 1
(33%)
0
(0%)
2
(67%)
3
(43%)
4
(57%)
7

Total
21
(14%)
32
(21%)
100
(65%)
153
(53%)
134
(47%)
287
* E: Environment, H: Health, S: Safety
Table 7. Trends of the Key Words Used in the Titles of S&P 500 Firms Performance Reports
in 2006
within the titles of performance reports based on the industry of all 287 sample firms. Of the
287 firms, approximately 53% of the firms (153 firms) reported their performance reports.
Performance reports could not be found on the respective Internet homepages for the
remaining firms. Of the 153 firms, 65.4% (100 firms) used sustainability, sustainable, or

corporate social as (a) word(s) used in the titles of their performance reports; 20.9% (32
firms) used environmental, health, and safety as (a) word(s) for their performance reports;
and 13.7% (21 firms) used environmental as (a) word(s) for their performance titles. This
means that 65.4% of the 153 S&P 500 firms surveyed have reported the performance of
sustainable business indicators; 20.9% have disclosed the performance of environmental,
health, and safety indicators; and 13.7% have reported only environmental performance.
Fifty-three firms, 18.5% of the total 287 S&P 500 firms surveyed reported that their
environmental performance reports used the terms Environmental reports or environmental,
health and safety reports in the title of their performance reports. This result is quite different
from that of a previous study. In 1998, the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC)
conducted a survey to identify how many S&P 500 firms reported their performance reports
to the public. They found that 61% of the 191 S&P 500 companies in 1998 used the term
Environmental as a keyword in the title of their performance reports (Gozali et al., 2002). This
indicates that 61% of the S&P 500 companies surveyed in 1998 focused on the performance
of environmental indicators. The use of the term Environmental in the title of the
performance reports swiftly dropped from 61% in 1998 to18.5% of the total 287 S&P 500
firms (53 firms) in 2006. On the other hand, the IRRC did not find firms that used the term
Sustainability in the titles of their samples. However, we found 34.8% (100 firms) of 287 S&P
500 companies surveyed in 2006 used the term Sustainability as a keyword in the title of their
performance reports. Changing the keywords used in the title of a firms performance
reports means that the main strategies of the performance reports have likely changed and
that the firm has informed the readers of what they have implemented and evaluated.
4.2.1 Distribution of industries
As of 2006, of the 287 S&P 500 companies surveyed, 19 firms were in the mining industry.
63.2% of these 19 firms (12 firms) provided their performance reports. Of the 12 firms, seven
firms (58.3% of 12 firms) used the term, Sustainability and five firms (41.7% of 12 firms) used
the term Environmental and EHS. In other words, 58.3% of firms described their performance
in accordance with the concept of sustainable development. It could be said that firms in the
mining industry have begun to progressively apply sustainable business strategies.
Thirty-two firms in the utilities industry provided their performance reports. Among them,
48.0% of the firms used the term Sustainability, and 52% of the firms used the term
Environmental and EHS in the title. Based on these numbers, it appears that many firms had
still focused more on environmental management systems than on sustainable business
even though international organizations had proposed guidelines, such as the Electric
Utilities project proposed by the WBCSD in 2000, to help firms in the utilities industry
implement sustainable business practices.
Seventy-five firms (72.8% of 103 firms) in the manufacturing industry used the term
Sustainability; 8 firms (7.8% of them) used the term Environmental; and 20 firms (19.4% of
them) used the term EHS. It appears that firms in the manufacturing industry have
proactively applied sustainable business practices or labels for such practices. Firms in the
manufacturing industry have changed from environmental management strategies to
sustainable business strategies. This shift was made possible in part because manufacturing
firms could easily apply and implement sustainable business aided by the fact that most had
already established and implemented several environmental management systems, such as
ISO 14001.

The construction industry is a sector where sustainable business practices should be
implemented as a business practice for two reasons: it is faced with indispensable challenges
posed by Sustainability; and the construction industry is generally one of the largest
industries in both developed and developing countries in terms of economic, social, and
environmental impacts (Zhang, Shen, Love, & Treloar, 2000; Cole, 1998; Spence & Mulligan,
1995). However, we could not find many construction firms among S&P 500 companies in
2006 that reported their environmental or sustainable business performance. Of the seven
S&P 500 companies in the construction industry, only one firm published its performance
reports with a title that used the term Sustainability.
Several international organizations, such as the WBCSD and the Institute of Sustainable
Forestry (ISF), have encouraged firms in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting
industry to apply sustainable development by proposing special programs, such as the
Sustainable Forest Products Industry project and the Sustainable Forestry Initiatives. This is
influenced by the fact that they deal with natural capital stocks. We found only two firms in
the S&P 500, as of 2006, in Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting. These two firms
reported their performance reports and used the terms Sustainability and Environmental in
the title of their performance reports. It is difficult to say whether firms in this industry have
applied sustainable business practices because of the small sample.
There are seven firms in the transportation and warehousing industry that published their
performance reports. Of the seven firms, two firms (28.6%) used the term Sustainability and
five firms (71.4%) used the term Environmental or EHS in their performance titles. It does not
seem that firms in the transportation and warehousing industry have implemented
sustainable business practices based on the key words used in the title of their performance
reports. Of the seven firms, the main products of four firms are the transfer of water and
gases through pipelines to their customers. Since transferring water and gases through
pipelines has the potential for causing environmental accidents, such as spills and explosion
incidents, the focus for these firms may be on the concept of environmental management
strategies.
Three firms in the accommodation and food service industry disclosed environmental or
sustainability performance reports even though this industry does not produce
environmental impact directly. Of the three firms, two firms (66.7% of the 3 firms) used the
term Sustainability and one report used Environmental. This implies that some firms in the
accommodation and food service industry have begun to consider the concept of sustainable
business.
5. Conclusions
The objective of this research is to identify whether or not firms are applying sustainable
business practice based on the Triple Bottom Line (Environmental, economic, and social
areas). We found that more companies in the manufacturing industries have measured and
disclosed diverse sustainable business indicators based on the Triple Bottom Line so that
they have implemented sustainable business practices since 2003. In other words, firms in
the manufacturing industries have integrated the concepts of sustainable business practices
into their decision-making process and that some firms in other industries have begun
incorporating the concepts of sustainable business practices into their business strategies
since 2003. We conclude that since 2003 many companies have changed their strategies
from environmental management to sustainable business. Although many firms have

increasingly disclosed their performance reports to the public as one of their sustainable
business practices, in many cases, they have not proactively announced the disclosure of
their performance reports to the public through Internet mass media or newspapers.
The results of this research, the distribution and types of sustainable business indicators,
could contribute to the existing literature of firms sustainable business practices and
activities. By providing empirical indicators that will be presented to the public, this
research can help stakeholders, including green investors, green consumers, corporate
firms, and others, recognize how the surveyed firms have implemented sustainable business
practices. This research can also encourage scholars to actively study not only the theoretical
methods for evaluating sustainable business practices, but also the theories or methods for
the development of sustainable business strategies.
The samples used in this research were not randomly collected, but purposefully sampled.
Since the sample for this study is announcements that firms voluntarily disclosed their
performance reports, it is not easy to randomly collect samples. Future researchers could
conduct case studies to identify the changes in corporate culture and evaluate the benefits of
those changes in corporate culture.
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pp.139-149
10
Assessment of Industrial Pollution Load in
Lagos, Nigeria by Industrial Pollution Projection
System (IPPS) versus Effluent Analysis
Adebola Oketola and Oladele Osibanjo
Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan
Nigeria
1. Introduction
Lagos is the economic capital of Nigeria with over 70% of industries in the country located
there. It is also the fastest growing city in Nigeria in terms of development and industrial
infrastructure, forecast to be one of the three megacities in the world with population of
over 20 million by the year 2025. The rapid growth and haphazard urbanization have led to
an increase in waste generation and environmental pollution. The industrial pollution
problems faced by Lagos with over 7,000 medium and large scale manufacturing facilities
are directly related to the rapid industrial growth and the haphazard industrialization
without environmental consideration (Oketola and Osibanjo, 2009a). Pollution abatement
technologies are largely absent and the consequence is a gross pollution of natural resources
and environmental media. Since effective environmental protection cannot take place in a
data vacuum, Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS), which is a rapid environmental
management tool for pollution load assessment, has been employed in this study to estimate
industrial pollution loads and to ascertain the agreement between IPPS models and
conventional effluent analysis.
It has been recognized that the developing countries lack the necessary information to set
priorities, strategies, and action plans on environmental issues. Plant-level monitoring of air,
water and toxic emissions is at best imperfect, monitoring equipment is not available and
where available is obsolete; data collection and measurement methodology are questionable,
and there is usually lack of trained personnel on industrial sites (Oketola and Osibanjo,
2009b; Hettige et al., 1994). In the absence of reliable pollution monitoring data, the World
Bank has created a series of datasets that have given the research community the
opportunity to better understand levels of pollution in developing countries, and therefore
issue policy advice with more clarity (Aguayo et al., 2001). Hence, the World Bank
developed the Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS), which is a rapid assessment
tool for pollution load estimation towards the development of appropriate policy
formulation for industrial pollution control in the developing countries, where insufficient
data on industrial pollution proved to be an impediment to setting-up pollution control
strategies and prioritization of activities (Faisal, 1991; Arpad et al, 1995).
IPPS is a modeling system, which has been developed to exploit the fact that industrial
pollution is heavily affected by the scale of industrial activity, by its sectoral composition,
and by the type of process technology used in production. IPPS combines data from


208
industrial activities (such as production and employment) with data on pollution emissions
to calculate the pollution intensity factors based on the International Standard Industrial
Classification (ISIC) (Hettige et al., 1994). The IPPS has been estimated from massive USA
database. This database was created by merging manufacturing census data with USEPA
data on air, water, and solid waste emissions. It draws on environmental, economic, and
geographic information from about 200,000 US factories. The IPPS covers about 1,500
product categories, all operating technologies, and hundreds of pollutants. It can project air,
water, or solid waste emissions, and it incorporates a range of risk factors for human toxic
and ecotoxic effects (Hettige et al., 1995).
There are wide ranges of industries and the pollutants introduced largely depends on the
type of industry, raw material characteristics, specific process methods, efficacy of facilities,
operating techniques, product grades and climatic conditions (Onianwa, 1985). The
industrial sectors in Lagos based on the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (M.A.N)
grouping are food, beverage and tobacco; textile, wearing apparel; pulp and paper products;
chemical and pharmaceutical; wood and wood products; nonmetallic mineral products;
basic metal; electrical and electronic; motor vehicle and miscellaneous; and domestic and
industrial plastics (M.A.N., 1991).The Chemical and pharmaceutical sector is the most
polluting industrial sector out of the ten major sectors based on the final ranking of IPPS
pollution loads estimated with respect to employment and total value of output while basic
metal, domestic and industrial plastics and textile wearing apparel sectors followed suit
(Oketola and Osibanjo, 2009a). The chemical manufacturing facilities in the sector range
from paint manufacturing industries, soap and detergents, pharmaceuticals, domestic
insecticides and aerosol, petroleum products, toiletries and cosmetics, basic industrial
chemicals while the basic metal manufacturing facilities are steel manufacturing, metal
fabrication, aluminium extrusion etc.
The magnitude of environmental pollution problem is related to the types and quantity of
waste generated by industries and the methods of management of the waste. As indicated
earlier, there are over 7,000 industries in Lagos state with less than 10% having installed
treatment facilities (Onyekwelu et al., 2003). Majority of these industries discharge their
partially treated or untreated effluents into the environment and the Lagos Lagoon has
gradually become a sink for pollutants from these industries. Industries utilize water for
many purposes; these include processing, washing, cooling, boiler use, flushing
sanitary/sewage use and general cleaning. Very large amount of water is required for these
activities.
Within a given industrial sector, water use correlates with the size of the industry, and also
for predicting the rate of generation of wastewater. Water supply requirements of an
industry vary from one sector to another. While some industries may only require smaller
volumes for cooling and cleaning (as in metal fabrication, cement bagging, etc), some others
due to the nature of their processes may require very large volumes of water. Among such
industries are breweries, distilleries and soft drinks manufacturing industries where water
forms the bulk of the products themselves as a solution. Total consumption is about 205,000
m
3
/day, with major users being Breweries, 22%; Textile, 18%; and Industrial chemicals,
16.6% (M.A.N., 2003). Industries utilize a vast array of input in the process of production of
goods and services, and generate different forms of waste to varying degrees, which
depends on the types and quantity of raw materials inputs, and the process technology
employed (Ogungbuyi and Osho, 2005).
This study estimated pollution loads of some industries among the top most polluting
sectors in Lagos (i.e., chemical, basic metal, plastics and textile). The selection of the
Assessment of Industrial Pollution Load in Lagos, Nigeria
by Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS) versus Effluent Analysis

209
industries was based on data availability and level of cooperation by industries studied. The
industries selected are paint manufacturing, industrial gas manufacturing and lubricating
oil production under the chemical and pharmaceutical sector while aluminium extrusion,
steel manufacturing and glass bottle cap production industries were selected under the basic
metal sector. Tyre manufacturing, foam and plastic production; and textile fabric and yarn
production industries were selected under the domestic and industrial plastics and textile
and wearing apparel sectors, respectively. IPPS pollution loads were estimated with respect
to employment and total output, and the results of effluent pollution loads were compared
statistically with IPPS pollution loads.
2. Experimental
2.1 Description of the study area
Lagos state has the largest population density of the four most industrialized states in
Nigeria (Lagos, Rivers, Kano and Kaduna). It is also the state with the greatest concentration
of industries, with well over seven thousand medium and large-scale industrial
establishments. It is claimed that about 70-80% of the manufacturing facilities operating
within the medium and large-scale industries are located there in. The major industrial
estates in Lagos are: Ikeja, Agidingbi, Amuwo Odofin (industrial), Apapa, Gbagada,
Iganmu, Ijora, Ilupeju, Matori, Ogba, Oregun, Oshodi/Isolo/Ilasamaja, Surulere (light
industrial) and Yaba (Arikawe, 2002; Akinsanya, 2003; Ogungbuyi and Osho, 2005) as
shown in Fig. 1.

OGUN
STATE
AGBARA
IBA
OJO
MOBA
166
AMUWO
ISOLO
(Proposed)
12
SURULERE
46
IGANMU
44
MATORI
56 ILUPEJU
25 OYINGBO
YABA
46
AGIDINGBI
OWORONSHOKI
OJOTA
10 GBAGADA
OREGUN
OGBA
IFAKO
56 IKEJA
IJAIYE
AKITAN
55
OTTA
(Proposed)
446
IKORODU
LAGOS
LAGOS
LAGOON
OGUN STATE
AKOWONJO
IKOYI
MAROKO
SANGO-OTTA
APAPA
700 PLOTS 400 PLOTS 300 200 100
ABESAN/IPAJA
665
(Proposed)
Lagoon

Fig. 1. Map of Industrial Estates in Lagos
2.2 Pollution data estimation methodology
Economic considerations and lack of cooperation from the industries limited the selection of
number of industries considered in this study and the number of samples analysed. Hence,
two paint manufacturing industries represented as CAP and BGR, domestic insecticides and


210
aerosol production (DIA), and basic industrial gas manufacturing (IGM) were considered
under the chemical and pharmaceutical sector; steel manufacturing (UST), aluminium
extrusion (AET), aluminium windows and doors production (AWD) and glass bottle cap
production (CCP) were selected under the basic metal sector. Industries selected under the
domestic and industrial plastics and textile and wearing apparels were tyre, foam and
plastic manufacturing industries; and textile and yarn manufacturing industries,
respectively.
The total number of employees and average total output in CAP, BGR, LOP, UST, CCM,
AWD, AET, FMI, TTP, CLP, WSY, RLT and APT were 225 and 3, 900 ton/yr; 250 and 8,000
ton/yr; 200 and 16.1 ton/yr; 120 and 1,170 ton/yr; 1,025 and 63,200 ton/yr; 370 while total
output data was not available; 36 and 222 ton/yr; 200 and 1,800 ton/yr; 710 and 6,650
ton/yr; 1,000 and 9,560 ton/yr; 200 and 960,000 ton/yr; 350 and 12,000 ton/yr; 800 and 3,600
ton/yr; and 375 and 3,750 ton/yr, respectively. Lower Bound (LB) pollution intensities by
medium with respect to total value of output and employment were obtained from the
literature (Hettige, et al., 1994). The pollution intensities were used to estimate the pollution
loads of these manufacturing industries based on the International Standard Industrial
Classification (ISIC) code as found in the literature using the formulae:
With respect to total output;

Pollution intensity factor x Unit of Output
Pollution load
2204.6
(1)
With respect to employment;

PI X TEM
PL
1000 x 2204.6
(2)
Where,
PL = Pollution load of a sector in ton/year
PI = Pollution intensity per thousand employees per year
TEM = Total number of employees in that sector
2204.6 = Conversion factor from pounds to tonnes
2.3 Effluent sample analysis
Treated and untreated effluent samples were collected from the industries at the point of
discharge to the environment and production line, respectively. Effluent samples were
analyzed for physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals using standard methods
(APHA, 1992; Miroslav and Viadimir, 1999; Taras, 1950). The parameters determined were:
temperature, pH, turbidity, conductivity, total suspended solids (TSS), total hardness,
acidity, alkalinity, chloride, sulphate, nitrate, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological
oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), sodium chloride, calcium, magnesium, and
heavy metals (e.g., Fe, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, and Co).
2.4 Statistical analysis
The data were validated statistically using t - test at 95% confidence interval (2- tailed) and
analysis of variance (ANOVA) to ascertain if there is any significant difference between IPPS
pollution loads with respect to employment and total output; and pollution loads from
conventional effluent analysis at p > 0.05.

211
Industrial
Sector
Four
ISIC
Code
Product
Produced
Major Raw
Materials
Types of
Waste
Generated
Mode of
Disposal
Effluent
Treatment Plant
(ETP)/Constrain
General Remarks
CPH
3521
(CAP)
Paints
Pigment, resin,
solvent and
additives
Effluent
Waste
solvent
Discharge in
drain
By contractor
off-site
Operational
Discharge treated
effluent into the
environment
3521
(BGR)
Paints,
wood
preservative
s, allied
products
Dyes, pigment,
solvent,
extender
Effluent
Sludge
Discharge in
drain
By contractor
off-site
Operational
Discharge treated
effluent into the
environment
3511
(IGM)
Industrial
gases e.g.
O2, CO2,
acetylene
Caustic soda,
soda ash,
calcium carbide,
ammonium
nitrate.
Effluent,
Sludge
Discharge in
drain,
Sludge is
disposed by
contractor off-
site
Not available,
installing ETP
Discharge effluent
to the environment
3540
(LOP)
Lubricants,
aerosol
insecticide
etc
Petroleum
products
Effluent
Solid waste
Sludge
Used oil
generated is
discharged to
cement kiln and
solid/sludge by
contractor off
site
Operational
Treat effluent before
discharge

DIP

3551
(TTP)
Tyres for
cars, trucks
and light
trucks
Natural and
synthetic
rubber, ZnO,
cobalt stearate,
carbon black,
mineral oil
Effluent
Solid waste
Discharge in
drain,
By contractor
off-site
Not available
Uses effluent as
cooling water
3513
(FMI)

Flexible and
rigid foams,
adhesives
Polyol, toluene-
di-isocyanate
(IDI), silicone
oil, methylene
chloride
Solid waste

Recycled

Not available

Emitting volatile
organic compounds
into the atmosphere

3560(CL
P)

Plastics

Pigments and
mastic batches

Solid waste

Waste oil
discharged by
contractor off-
site

Not Applicable
Do not generate
effluent at the
production line
TWA
3211
(RLT)
Grey fabrics
e.g. suiting,
ankara
Yarn, chemicals
and dyes
Effluent
Solid waste

In drain after
treatment
By contractor
off-site
Operational
Discharge treated
effluent into the
environment
3211
(WSY)

Textiles

Dyes, pigment,
caustic soda,
acetic acid
Effluent
Solid waste

Discharge in
drain, by
contractor off-
site
Operational

Discharge treated
effluent into the
environment

3219
(APT)

Yarn

Cotton

Solid waste

By contractor
off-site

Not applicable
Do not generate
effluent.
BML
3720
(AET)
Aluminium
profiles
Aluminium
billets, H2SO4,
NaOH,Tin (II)
Sulphate,
Chromic acid
Effluent,
solid and
sludge
Effluent
discharged in
drain after
treatment and
sludge by
contractor off-
site.
ETP operational
Do not discharge
effluent that
contains hazardous
substances into the
environment.
3720
(AWD)
Aluminium
windows
Aluminium
profile from
Solid waste

Recycle waste

Not applicable

Do not generate
effluent at all.


212
and doors

aluminium
ingot

3710
(UST)

Steel bars,
refractory
bricks and
enamelware
Steel scrap,
ferrous alloys
(Fe-Mn, Fe-Si),
NaOH, clay,
silica.
Effluent,
Slag and
Sludge
Discharge in
drain
By contractor
off-site
Not available,
installing ETP

Reuse effluent as
cooling water

3720
(CCM)
Paint cans,
crown caps
and
beverage
cans
Tin plate,
copper wire etc
Solid waste
Molded
together and
sold off
Not available
Do not generate
effluent during
production
Table 1. Major raw materials and types of waste generated by the selected industries in
Lagos
Emission to air was determined based on emission of total suspended particulate (TSP), fine
particulate (FP, PM10), sulphur dioxide (SO
2
), nitrogen dioxide (NO
2
), carbon monoxide
(CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Emission to water was estimated in terms of
biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solid (TSS) while emission of toxic
pollutants was estimated in terms of toxic chemicals and metals released into air, water and
land, whose pollution intensities were available in the literature (Hettige, et al., 1994). The
major raw materials and the type of waste generated by the selected industries are
presented in Table 1 while the total number of employees and total value of output as well
as the pollution loads are shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. UST have the highest
number of employees and second highest total value of output while AWD have the lowest
number of employees and LOP the lowest value of output.
3.1 IPPS pollution load assessment
3.1.1 Air pollution load
Air pollution loads for all the selected industries are shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively
for pollution load estimated with respect to employment and total value of output. UST
with 1025 employees and 63, 200 ton/yr of total output have the highest emission of all
pollutants into environmental media (i.e., air, water, and land). The air pollution load with
respect to employment and total value of output are 4,810 tons/yr and 1,860,000 tons/yr,
respectively. This was followed by FMI,CCM, LOP, AET, TTP, IGM, RLT, APT, AWD, WSY,
BGR, CAP, and CLP, respectively in decreasing order.
In most cases, the higher the number of employees and total output, the higher the air
pollution loads. Basic metal, and domestic and industrial plastic (DIP) sectors are the most
polluting sector in terms of air pollutant emission. UST ranked first while FMI and CCM
ranked second and third, respectively. Total air pollution loads with respect to employment
are 2,660 tons/yr and 2050 tons/yr in FMI and CCM, respectively. With respect to total
output, air pollution loads are 94,500 ton/yr in FMI. Output data from CCM was not
available thus; air pollution load with respect to total output cannot be estimated. Emission
of CO and NO
2
was the highest in UST and FMI when pollution load was estimated with
respect to the two variables (i.e., employment and total output) while SO
2
emission was the
highest in CCM when pollution load was estimated with respect to employment. The trend
in air pollution load by pollutant types in these industries are
UST: CO > SO
2
> NO
2
> FP > TSP > VOC

213
FMI: NO
2
> VOC > SO
2 >
CO > TSP > FP
CCM: SO
2
> CO > TSP > VOC > NO
2
> FP

Pollution loads estimated with respect to employment and total output revealed that the
most emitted air pollutant from UST was CO. This could be attributed to the fact that in
steel making, oxygen reacts with several components in the bath, including Al, Si, Mn, P, C,
and Fe, to produce metallic oxides which end up in the slag. It also generates carbon
monoxide boil, a phenomenon common to all steel making processes and very important for
mixing of the slag. Mixing enhances chemical reaction, purges hydrogen and nitrogen, and
improves heat transfer. The CO supplies a less expensive form of energy to the bath, and
performs several important refining reactions (Jeremy, 2003; and Bruce and Joseph, 2003). It
is also important for foaming and help to bury the arc.

INDUSTRIAL
SECTOR/
SECTOR CODE
CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICALS
(CPH)
BASIC METALS (BML)
ISIC CODE 3521
(CAP)
3521
(BGR)
3540
(LOP)
3511
(IGM)
3710
(UST)
3720
(CCM)
3720
(AWD)
3720
(AET)
EFFLUENT VOL.
(L/day)
1,500 2,000 NA NA 1MILLON NA* NA 10
EFFLUENT
TREATMENT PLANT
(ETP)
Operational Operational Operational
NA NA NA* NA
Operational
NO OF EMPLOYEE 225 (M) 250 (M) 200 (M) 120 (M) 1025 (L) 370 (M) 36 (M) 200 (M)
AIR POLLUTANTS
SO2 5.88 6.53 565 200 1320 1,260 122 680
NO2 5.19 5.77 352 148 575 41.0 3.99 22.2
CO 0.73 0.81 266 115 2060 586 57.0 317
VOC 43.5 48.4 88.3 116 177 45.8 4.46 24.8
FP 1.78 1.98 17.4 6.77 366 11.6 1.13 6.25
TSP 3.49 3.88 217 32.1 307 106 10.3 57.2
TOTAL 60.6 67.3 1,510 617 4810 2,050 199 1,110
WATER
POLLUTANTS

BOD 0.01 0.07 0.59 68.3 0.89 96.5 9.39 52.2
TSS 0.03 0.03 0.73 105.6 14,400 1,400 136 754
TOTAL 0.04 0.10 1.32 174 14,400 1,490 145 806
TOXIC CHEMICALS
TO AIR 38.8 43.1 10.8 101 73.0 97.3 9.47 52.6
TO LAND 93.1 103 3.17 353 418 258 25.1 140
TO WATER 0.10 0.11 0.32 51.3 25.9 3.78 0.38 2.04
TOTAL 132 147 14.7 505 517 359 35.0 194
TOXIC METALS
TO AIR 0.33 0.37 0.02 0.50 12.5 6.73 0.66 3.64
TO LAND 2.54 2.82 0.30 15.9 276 223 21.7 121
TO WATER 0.002 0.002 0.01 0.47 1.89 0.13 0.01 0.07
TOTAL 2.89 3.18 0.33 16.9 291 230 22.4 124
NOTE: L = large scale, M = medium scale, S = small scale, NA = not available, NA* = not applicable
Table 2. Pollution loads (ton/yr) with respect to employment


214

INDUSTRIAL
SECTOR/SECTOR CODE
DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL
PLASTICS
(DIP)
TEXTILE, WEARING APPAREL (TWA)
ISIC CODE 3560 (CLP) 3513 (FMI) 3551 (TTP) 3219
(APT)
3211 (RLT)
EFFLUENT VOL. (L/day) NA* NA* 484,000 160 NA* 720
EFFLUENT TREATMENT
PLANT (ETP)
NA NA NA Operatio
nal
NA Operationa
l
NO OF EMPLOYEE 200 (M) 710 (L) 1,000 (L) 350 (M) 375 (M) 800 (L)
AIR POLLUTANTS
SO2 0.54 441 275 36.0 21.0 82.3
NO2 0.12 1,150 95.1 49.7 8.67 114
CO 0.04 169 11.7 6.67 1.58 15.3
VOC 6.48 838 278 13.6 166 31.2
FP 0.11 0.36 3.93 0.96 0.00 2.20
TSP 0.16 67.3 30.4 6.45 12.5 14.7
TOTAL 7.45 2,660 695 113 210 259
WATER POLLUTANTS
BOD 4.97 1.89 0.002 1.46 0.00 3.34
TSS 0.11 58.2 0.68 2.27 0.09 5.18
TOTAL 5.08 60.0 0.68 3.73 0.09 8.52
TOXIC CHEMICALS
TO AIR 18.2 484 9.98 5.22 147 11.9
TO LAND 5.38 401 17.2 4.85 33.2 11.1
TO WATER 0.04 35.4 0.21 2.66 0.01 6.08
TOTAL 23.6 920 27.4 12.7 180 29.1
TOXIC METALS
TO AIR 0.004 0.13 0.39 0.04 0.03 0.10
TO LAND 0.16 20.9 15.1 0.09 0.01 0.20
TO WATER 0.01 0.44 0.02 0.003 - 0.01
TOTAL 0.18 21.5 15.5 0.13 0.04 0.31

NOTE: L = large scale, M = medium scale, S = small scale, NA = not available, NA* = not applicable
Table 2. Contd. Pollution loads (ton/yr) with respect to employment

215

INDUSTRIAL
SECTOR/
SECTOR CODE
CHEMICAL & PHARMACEUTICALS
(CPH)
BASIC METALS (BML)
ISIC CODE 3521 (CAP) 3521 (BGR) 3540 (LOP) 3511 (IGM) 3710 (UST) 3720(CCM) 3720 (AWD) 3720 (AET)
EFFLUENT VOL.
(L/day)
1,500 2,000 NA NA 1MILLION NA* NA 10
EFFLUENT
TREATMENT
PLANT (ETP)
Operational Operational Operational NA NA NA* NA Operational
TOTAL VALUE OF
OUTPUT (ton/yr)
3,900 8,000 16.1 1,170 63,200 NA 222 1,800
AIR POLLUTANTS
SO2 435 893 152 6,180 512,000 NA 3,890 31,600
NO2 384 787 94.7 4,590 222,000 NA 127 1,030
CO 54.8 112 71.7 3,550 798,000 NA 1,800 14,700
VOC 3,220 6,600 23.8 3,590 68,600 NA 141 1,150
FP 131 269 4.68 210 142,000 NA 35.7 290
TSP 258 530 58.4 994 119,000 NA 326 2,650
TOTAL 4,480 9,190 405 19,100 1,860,000 NA 6,320 51,300
WATER
POLLUTANTS

BOD 0.46 0.94 0.16 2,120 379 NA 298 2,410
TSS 1.91 0.26 0.20 3,270 5,580,000 NA 4,300 35,000
TOTAL 2.37 1.20 0.36 5,390 5,580,000 NA 4,600 37,400
TOXIC CHEMICALS NA
TO AIR 2,870 5,880 2.90 3,140 28,000 NA 300 2,440
TO LAND 6,880 14,100 0.85 10,900 162,000 NA 796 6,470
TO WATER 7.47 15.3 0.09 1,590 10,000 NA 11.7 94.8
TOTAL 9,760 20,000 3.84 15,600 200,000 NA 1,110 9,000
TOXIC METALS
TO AIR 24.3 49.9 0.01 15.6 4,850 NA 20.8 169
TO LAND 187 385 0.17 493 107,000 NA 689 5,590
TO WATER 0.15 0.32 0.002 14.5 732 NA 0.41 3.36
TOTAL 212 435 0.18 523 112,000 NA 710 5,760
NOTE: NA = not available, NA* = not applicable
Table 3. Pollution loads (ton/yr) with respect to total value of output


216

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR/
SECTOR CODE
DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL
PLASTICS (DIP)
TEXTILE, WEARING APPAREL (TWA)
ISIC CODE 3560 (CLP) 3513 (FMI) 3551
(TTP)
3211 (WSY) 3211 (RLT) 3219 (APT)
EFFLUENT VOL. (L/day) NA* NA* 484,000 160 720 NA*
EFFLUENT TREATMENT
PLANT (ETP)
NA NA NA Operational Operational NA
TOTAL VALUE OF OUTPUT
(ton/yr)
960,000 6,650 9,560 12,000 3,600 3,750
AIR POLLUTANTS
SO2 24,400 15,600 16,500 13,200 3,950 1,270
NO2 5,230 40,600 5,690 18,300 5,460 526
CO 0.001 6,010 698 2,450 731 95.3
VOC 294,00 30,000 16,700 5,010 1,500 10,100
FP 5,230 12.1 234 355 106 0.00
TSP 7,400 2,390 1,820 2,360 707 757
TOTAL 337,000 94,400 41,600 41,700 12,400 12,800
WATER POLLUTANTS
BOD 226,000 638 0.09 536 160 0.00
TSS 4,880 2,060 40.9 833 249 5.44
TOTAL 231,000 2,700 41.0 1,370 409 5.44
TOXIC CHEMICALS
TO AIR 826,000 17.2 598 1,920 573 8,940
TO LAND 245,000 14.2 1,030 1,780 532 2,010
TO WATER 2,020 1.25 12.4 977 292 0.08
TOTAL 1,070,000 32.6 1,640 4,670 1,400 10,900
TOXIC METALS
TO AIR 192 4.76 23.2 15.8 4.72 1.83
TO LAND 7,400 741.1 903 320 95.5 37.7
TO WATER 416 15.5 1.16 1.07 0.32 0.35
TOTAL 8,010 761 928 336 100.6 39.9

NOTE: NA = not available, NA* = not applicable
Table 3. Contd. Pollution loads (ton/yr) with respect to total value of output

217
3.1.2 Water pollution load
Of all the industries, UST ranked first in terms of total water pollution load while CCM and
AET ranked second and third, respectively. This was due to the fact that emission of TSS
from the two industries was more than BOD. Estimated TSS pollution load from these
industries are 14,400 and 1,400 ton/yr, respectively while BOD pollution load are 0.89 and
96.5 ton/yr, respectively. The steel industry with the highest number of employees
generated the highest water pollution load. Thus, the higher the number of employees, the
higher the water pollution loads. Pollution load estimated with respect to total output
showed that 5.6 million ton/yr of TSS was generated by UST. Water pollution load
estimated with respect to employment and total output revealed that emission of TSS was
more than BOD in all the manufacturing facilities under the basic metal sector with UST
having the highest water pollution load with respect to the two variables (i.e., employment
and total output). This is shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. APT and CAP have the
lowest water pollution load thus, their contribution to water pollution is insignificant.
3.1.3 Toxic pollution load
Toxic chemical and metal pollution load with respect to employment and total output are
presented in Tables 2 and 3, respectively. Total chemical pollution load with respect to
employment and total output is more than total metal pollution load in all the facilities. This
may be attributed to the nature of the raw materials used by these facilities. Thus, raw
material characteristics and product grades are some of the factors affecting pollution load
(Oketola and Osibanjo, 2009b).
3.2 Pollution load assessment by effluent analysis
The results of the composite untreated effluent samples collected from the production line of
the facilities are presented in Tables 4 and 5, respectively. The result of effluents analysis
showed varying concentration of some of the parameters such as heavy metals, COD etc.,
which are above the permissible limits of Federal Ministry of Environment, (FEPA, 1998)
for effluent discharge thus indicating gross pollution. The values of some of the parameters
obtained could be attributed to the production processes, raw material characteristics etc.

Industrial Code
/Parameters
BGR CAP UST
1
TTP
1
WSY LOP IGM AET
Sampling time
(n)
4 5 2 2 3 2 2 5
Parameters
Temp0C 30.31.7 29.21.8 45 331.4 46.37.8 361.4 29.50.7 30.50.7
pH 7.620.5 6.320.5 6.750.1 5.750.1 9.61.0 6.850.6 11.30.0 10.80.9
Turbidity
(NTU)
4.150.3 3.530.5 ND ND 0.310.04 1,230360 ND 0.720.1
Conductivity
(s/cm)
2210410 81085 1045.7 26014 0.310.04 30578
2,70028
0
3550780
TSS (mg/L)* 9.652.8 1.400.8 0.280.3 0.050.01 0.140.1 30166 1.551.3 2.331.4


218
Oil & Grease
(mg/L)
3.428.8 6.301.5 1045.7 26014 2,400400 91.230 0.340.4 34.330
Total Alkalinity
(pH 4.3) (mg/L)
863570 650270 0.370.4 ND 1.00.4 32.646 505710 3,7302,400
Total Acidity
(pH 8.3) (mg/L)
81397 602120 41.16.7 67.910 7931.061 40.531 ND 2,0701,300
Methyl Orange
Acidity (pH 3.7)
(mg/L)
293590 ND 34.932 ND 147120 ND ND -
Total Hardness
(mg/L)
78.728 58.820 222.6300 6.271.0 376530 80.563 35.943 246350
Cl
-
(mg/L) 82.238 33.610 8.574.1 1.790.1 36.718 9.060.5 2.441.0 21.138
SO4
2
- (mg/L) 10653 855780 46.12.7 1.190.1 1,180680 37.449 199120 717520
PO4
3
- (mg/L) 94.520 46.217 ND ND 7 7.06.1 10.59.6 12.017 47.514
NO3
-
(mg/L) 2.121.4 ND ND ND 0.80.7 0.110.1 ND ND
DO (mg/L) ND ND 7.501.4 6.800.1 ND ND ND 801.8
COD (mg/L) 1700630 642390 1306.4 62143 78386 22,16095 8977.1 159130
BOD5 (mg/L) * 23.42.9 20.37.7 10.53.0 0.480.04 4.560.4 54.518 ND 3.951.9
Ca (mg/L) 15.35.9 15.615 0.340.2 1.040.02 14.615 53.865 38.219 0.020.04
Mg (mg/L) 9.859.2 5.777.1 53.873 0.780.1 82.3140 14.615 0.731.0 60.085
Pb (mg/L) 2.014.0 12.415 3.074.3 ND 9.0716 0.220.3 ND 19.023
Ni (mg/L) 0.730.5 0.520.8 0.100.1 0.350.1 ND 0.10.1 0.60.8 0.480.8
Cd (mg/L) 0.781.1 1.771.3 0.110.2 ND 0.090.2 ND ND 0.440.6
Cr (mg/L) 0.530.4 0.410.3 0.180.2 0.050.01 0.180.1 ND 0.20.3 0.190.3
Fe (mg/L) 8.806.4 4.566.4 7.310 ND 8.277.2 1.402.0 4.96.9 8.9612
Mn (mg/L) 2.712.2 1.020.9 ND 0.230.3 ND 0.060.1 0.270.4 0.981.5
Zn (mg/L) 0.150.1 0.020.04 1.001.4 ND 0.010.02 0.010.01 ND 0.060.1
Cu (mg/L) 20.714 8.487.0 2.702.2 0.300.1 2.540.6 7.87.8 4.987.0 14.36.5
Co (mg/L) 0.290.1 0.140.1 0.040.1 0.020.01 0.230.2 ND 0.140.2 0.250.1
TOTAL (mg/L) * 36.7 20.8 14.5 0.95 20.4 9.59 11.1 44.6

Note: * Parameters compared with IPPS pollution load
1
cooling water

Table 4. Mean concentration and standard deviation of physico-chemical parameters of
untreated effluent from the selected industries

219
Industrial
Code/Parameters
BGR
(n = 2)
CAP
(n = 2)
WSY
(n = 2)
LOP
(n = 2)
IGM
(n = 3)
AET
(n = 2)
FMENV
LIMIT
Parameters
Temp
0
C 302.8 28.83.2 47.81.8 30.80.4 352 29.50.7
pH 7.30.3 8.20.0 9.850.2 8.451.1 9.030.3 10.30.9 6.5 9.0
Turbidity (NTU) 0.050.01 0.060.01 0.440.2 13752 ND 0.410.03
Conductivity (s/cm) 54592 2,300140 4,500710 289150 5,670610
3,40057
0

TSS (mg/L) * 0.230.02 0.320.1 0.370.2 32.09.9 0.440.1 1.911.3
Oil & Grease (mg/L) 0.300.03 0.030.01 19.23.8 4.791.0 9.196.8 3.160.4
Total Alkalinity (pH 4.3)
(mg/L)
29357 57297 1,350440 13156 2,880170
1,7201,1
00

Total Acidity (pH 8.3)
(mg/L)
136130 6085 22075 9.161.8 76.116 ND
Total Hardness (mg/L) 11867 44.520 32.125 22.08.5 207330 1.572.2
Cl
-
(mg/L) 31.90.2 7.628.8 46.466 9.346.4 12731 55.168 600
SO4
2-
(mg/L) 10316 47183 30384 36.436 11132
1,10089
0

PO4
3-
(mg/L) 8. 855.2 ND 25.521 3.141.0 8.937.7 43.530
DO (mg/L) 3.753.5 ND ND 0.751.5 6.51.3 1.752.5
COD (mg/L) 145092 1,030250 1,140510 97.46.6 363260 9099.9 80.0
BOD5 (mg/L) * 27.01.1 16.12.7 60.111 21.88.5 10.211 6.551.0 30.0
Ca (mg/L) 16.316 2.340.1 5.316.5 10.913 2.40.4 ND
Mg (mg/L) 18.76.6 9.384.8 4.552.1 5.383.7 48.879 0.380.5
Pb (mg/L) 3.274.6 4.76.7 6.359.0 7.09.9 0.280.4 ND < 1.0
Ni (mg/L) 2.80.6 1.200.3 0.900.1 ND 0.671.2 0.81.1 < 1.0
Cd (mg/L) 0.470.7 ND 0.971.4 ND 1.641.6 0.150.1 < 1.0


220
Cr (mg/L) 0.230.3 0.140.1 0.460.1 0.230.3 0.10.2 0.290.4 < 1.0
Fe (mg/L) 10.93.3 0.60.9 6.59.2 4.185.7 60.566 61.161 20.0
Mn (mg/L) ND ND 0.080.1 0.060.1 136.7 ND 5.0
Zn (mg/L) 0.110.6 0.200.3 0.010.01 0.120.2 0.10.1 0.070.1 < 1.0
Cu (mg/L) 9.217.4 8.034.6 3.184.5 1.812.4 11.510 6.852.0 < 1.0
Co (mg/L) 0.320.4 0.150.2 0.160.1 ND 0.110.2 0.140.03 < 1.0
TOTAL (mg/L)* 28.7 16.7 19.3 6.68 87.6 72.7
Note: * Parameters compared with IPPS pollution load
Table 5. Mean concentration and standard deviation of physico-chemical parameters of
effluent discharged to the environment in the selected industries in Lagos
3.3 Results of statistical analysis
IPPS estimated pollution loads with respect to employment and total output in these
industries were statistically analysed to ascertain the level of agreement between them.
There is no significant difference between the pollution load estimated with respect to the
two variables (i.e. employment and total output) at p > 0.05 in all the industries except in
IGM, WSY, RLT, AWD, and AET. At the 0.05 level, the means are significantly different.
IPPS pollution load was also compared with pollution load from conventional effluent
analysis. There is no significant difference between them at p > 0.05 in CAP, BGR, UST, TTP
and AET while there is significant different between IPPS pollution load and pollution load
from conventional effluent analysis in WSY. Hence, IPPS compared favourably with effluent
analysis in most of the industries.
4. Conclusion
This study estimated pollution loads of some industries in Lagos using IPPS pollution
intensities with respect to employment and total output. In most cases, the higher the total
number of employees and total output, the higher the estimated pollution loads. There is no
significant difference between the pollution loads estimated with respect to the two
variables in all the industries except IGM where the two means are significantly different.
IPPS pollution loads were also compared with pollution loads from conventional effluent
analysis at p > 0.05. The two pollution loads compared favourably at this limit.
Application of IPPS in Lagos and most developing countries will no doubt enable the
regulatory and monitoring agencies in such countries to focus on the most polluting
industries. This will on the long run increase the level of enforcement since more time can be
spent on the few polluting industries. This will also enable the policy makers in the
developing countries to tackle industrial pollution since IPPS is a cheap means of assessing
industrial pollution when compared to running scientific monitoring data gathering,
analysis and assessment which is time consuming, expensive and resource intensive.

221
Detailed information on employment and total output obtained from the fourteen industries
studied revealed that in most cases, the higher the total number of employees and output,
the higher the pollution loads by pollutant types except in TTP where the higher the total
number of employees and total output, the lower the estimated pollution loads. This
variation can be attributed to other factors which affect pollution loads. These are types and
quantity of raw materials, process technology, product grade, efficacy of facility, and source
type etc. Also, pollution load of the fourteen industries estimated with respect to
employment and total output were compared statistically using t-test at 95% confidence
interval and analysis of variance (ANOVA). At this level, the two means are not
significantly different in CAP, BGR, TTP, FMI, UST, LOP, CLP, and APT while there was
significant different in AWD, WSY, RLT, IGM, and AET. These can be attributed to the
information and data supplied by these industries including process efficiency and efficacy
of installed pollution control technology if any. For example, IGM with only 120 employees
produced 1,170 ton/yr of total output while LOP with 200 employees have a total
production capacity of 16.1 tons/yr which is significantly less than that of IGM.
The results of untreated effluent samples collected from these industries also revealed that
most of the industries discharged untreated or partially treated effluent into the
environment. Out of the 14 industries which data were available for this study, only 29%
have effluent treatment plant which is operational, 36% have no effluent treatment plant
while the remaining 36% operate dry process in which Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) is not
applicable. Unavailability of ETP in these industries could be attributed to the high cost of
installing and maintaining an ETP, air pollution control devices, and weak enforcement of
extant environmental regulations in Lagos.
Pollution load from conventional effluent analysis were compared with IPPS pollution load
in these industries. There is no significant difference between them at p > 0.05. IPPS
pollution load of the selected industries compared favourably with pollution load from
conventional effluent analysis in CAP, BGR, UST, TTP and AET. Enough data was not
available from IGM and LOP. The exception was in WSY where there is significant
difference between IPPS pollution load with respect to output and pollution load from
conventional effluent analysis from effluent collected at the production line. Consequently,
there was an agreement between effluent analysis or scientific monitoring and assessment
and IPPS. Since IPPS compares favourably with scientific monitoring and analysis in these
industries, IPPS therefore offers a cheap management tool for pollution load assessment in
these industries; and directional basis for rapid policy intervention by government
regulatory agencies in Lagos and other developing countries where pollution abatement
technology is absent and level of enforcement is very low. It will enhance industrial
pollution control in the developing countries where funding for environmental protection is
lacking or grossly inadequate. The effectiveness of the intervening measures would
significantly reduce the overall industrial pollution.
5. References
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state perspective. (A paper presented on ecological sustainable industrial
development workshop organized by UNIDO).
Aguayo, F., Gallagher, P., and Gohzalez, A. (2001). Dirt is in the eye of the beholder: The
World Bank air pollution intensities for Mexico. Global development and
environment institute working paper, No. 01-07.


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APHA, 1992. Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. American
Public Health Association, New York. 18
th
ed.
Arikawe-Akintola. J.O. (2002). The rise of industrialism in the Lagos area. In: Adefuye, A.,
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Arpad Horvath, Christ T. Hendrickson, Lester B. Lave, Francis C. McMichael, and Tse
Sung Wu (1995). Toxic emissions indices for green design and inventory. Environ.
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Bruce Kozak and Joseph Dzierzawski. (2003). Continuous casting of steel: basic principles.
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Faisal, Islam, Rumi Shammiu, and Juhaina Junaid (1991). Industrial pollution in Bangladesh.
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Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development (FMENV) (1998).
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Hettige, H., Martin, P., Singh, M., and Wheeler, D. (1994). The Industrial Pollution Projection
System (IPPS) policy research working paper, No. 1431, part 1 and 2.
Hettige, H., Martin, P., Singh, M., and Wheeler, D. (1995). The Industrial Pollution
Projection System (IPPS) policy research working paper, No. 1431, Part 3.
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Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (M.A.N.) (1991). Yearly economic review.
Miroslav Radojevic and Viadimir N. Bashkin. (1999). Practical environmental analysis. Royal
Society of Chemistry.
Ogungbuyi, O.M. and Osho, Y.B. (2005). Study on Industrial Discharges to the Lagos
Lagoon. Report Submitted by United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO), Country Service Framework Programme under the
Ecological Sustainable Industrial Development Programme.
Onianwa, P. C. (1985). Accumulation, exchange and retention of trace heavy metal in mosses
from southwest Nigeria. Ph. D. thesis, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Onyekwelu, I.U., Junaid, K.A., and Ogungbuyi, O.M. 2003. Recent trends in the pollution load
on the Lagos Lagoon A National perspective. Presented by Federal Ministryof
Environment at the Ecological Sustainable Industrial Development Workshop. 2 - 20.
Oketola, A.A., and Osibanjo, O. (2009a). Estimating sectoral pollution load in Lagos by
Industrial Pollution Projection System (IPPS): Employment versus Output.
Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry. 91, (5), 799-818.
Oketola, A.A., and Osibanjo, O. (2009b). Industrial pollution load assessment by Industrial
Pollution Projection System (IPPS). Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry. 91, (5),
989-997.
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Anal Chem., 22, (8), 1020-102
11
Pollution Prevention in the Pulp and
Paper Industries
Bahar K. Ince
1
, Zeynep Cetecioglu
2
and Orhan Ince
2

1
Bogazici University, Institute of Environmental Science, Istanbul,
2
Istanbul Technical University, Environmental Engineering Department, Istanbul,
Turkey
1. Introduction
Pulp and paper industry is considered as one of the most polluter industry in the world
(Thompson et al., 2001; Sumathi & Hung, 2006). The production process consists two main
steps: pulping and bleaching. Pulping is the initial stage and the source of the most
pollutant of this industry. In this process, wood chips as raw material are treated to remove
lignin and improve fibers for papermaking. Bleaching is the last step of the process, which
aims to whiten and brighten the pulp. Whole processes of this industry are very energy and
water intensive in terms of the fresh water utilization (Pokhrel & Viraraghavan, 2004). Water
consumption changes depending on the production process and it can get as high as 60
m
3
/ton paper produced in spite of the most modern and best available technologies
(Thompson et al., 2001).
The wastewaters generated from production processes of this industry include high
concentration of chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, sodium sulfide,
bisulfites, elemental chlorine or chlorine dioxide, calcium oxide, hydrochloric acid, etc
(Sumathi & Hung, 2006). The major problems of the wastewaters are high organic content
(20-110 kg COD/air dried ton paper), dark brown coloration, adsorbable organic halide
(AOX), toxic pollutants, etc.
The environmental problems of pulp and paper industry are not limited by the high water
consumption. Wastewater generation, solid wastes including sludge generating from
wastewater treatment plants and air emissions are other problems and effective disposal
and treatment approaches are essential. The significant solid wastes such as lime mud, lime
slaker grits, green liquor dregs, boiler and furnace ash, scrubber sludges, wood processing
residuals and wastewater treatment sludges are generated from different mills. Disposal of
these solid wastes cause environmental problems because of high organic content,
partitioning of chlorinated organics, pathogens, ash and trace amount of heavy metal
content (Monte et al., 2009).
The major air emissions of the industry come from sulfite mills as recovery gurnaces and
burnes, sulfur oxides (SOx), from Kraft operation as reduced sulfur gases and odor
problems, from wood-chips digestion, spent liquor evaporation and bleaching as volatile
organic carbons (VOCs), and from combustion process as nitrogen oxidies (NOx) and SOx.
VOCs also include ketone, alcohol and solvents such as carbon disulfide methanol, acetone
and chlorofom (Smook, 1992).

Many kinds of the wastes as summarized above are generated from different processes. The
amount, type and characteristics of these wastes are important to provide the best treatment
technology. Physicochemical and biological treatment technologies are used extensively for
the pulp and paper mills. The lab-scale and full-scale studies about sedimentation/floatation,
coagulation and precipitation, adsorption, chemical oxidation and membrane filtration were
carried out in the literature to examine physico-chemical approach (Pokhrel & Viraraghavan,
2004). Biological treatment both aerobic and anaerobic technologies are preferred for treatment
of pulp and paper mills because of wastewater composition consisting of high organic
compounds and economical aspects. Additionally, some fungi species are used to remove
color and AOX from the effluents (Taseli and Gokcay, 1999). In some countries, tertiary
treatment is applied to obtain discharge limits of regulations (Thompson et al., 2001). Finally,
the wide application in the full-scale plants for treatment pulp and paper mills is hybrid
systems, which is combined physico-chemical and biological treatment alternatives (Pokhrel &
Viraraghavan, 2004).
Disposal strategy of solid wastes generated from pulp and paper industry is varied depends
on the country and the regulations obeyed. After sorting and handling, dewatering, thermal
application such as combustion and anaerobic digestion to obtain energy and deposit in
landfills are general applications. However, the solid wastes should be monitored after
landfill deposition because of toxic characteristics of the compounds (Monte et al., 2009).
Also gaseous pollutants are other environmental problems generated from pulp and paper
industry. To minimize these pollutants, physico-chemical methods such as adsorption to
activated coal filters absorption, thermal oxidation, catalytic oxidation and condensation
have been widely used (Eweis et al., 1998). In the last decade, low cost and effective trends
have been developed to prevent the limitation of physico-chemical applications such as
energy cost and generating secondary pollutants (Sumathi & Hung, 2006).
Waste minimization, recycle, reuse, and innovative approaches developed in last 10 years
become more than an issue. In this chapter, waste characterization of this industry in terms
of type and source with management approaches was discussed. Exemplary applications
were presented. Finally state of the art approaches for the environmental problems of this
industry were argued.
2. Waste characterization and source
Pulp and paper industry is one of the most water and energy consuming industry in the
world. This industry uses the fifth largest energy consumer processes; approximately 4% of
total energy is used worldwide. Also during pulp and paper process, the important amount
of waste is produced. It has been estimated that 500 million tons of paper and etc. per year
will be produced in 2020. Three different raw materials are used in the pulp and paper
industry as nonwood fibers and wood materials; soft and hard woods. Waste and
wastewaters are generated from both of pulp and bleaching processes. Additionally, 100
million kg of toxic pollutants are released every year from this industry (Cheremisinoff &
Rosenfeld, 2010).
2.1 Manufacturing technologies and process description
Pulping process is the first step of the production. The main steps of this part are debarking,
wood chipping, chip washing, chip digestion, pulp screening, thickening, and washing.
Mechanical and chemical operation processes in pulping are used in the worldwide. While

Pollution Prevention in the Pulp and Paper Industries 225
mechanical processes involve mechanical pressure, disc refiners, heating, and light chemical
processes to increase pulping yield; wood chips are cooked in pulping liquors at high
temperature and under pressure in the chemical pulping processes. (Sumathi & Hung, 2006).
Additionally, mechanical and chemical processes can be combined in some applications. The
yield of mechanical processes is higher (90-95%) compared to chemical processes (40-50%).
However quality of the pulp obtained from mechanical processes is lower and also the pulp is
highly coloured and includes short fibers (Pokhrel & Viraraghavan, 2004). Therefore, chemical
pulping carrying out in alkaline or acidic media is mostly preferred. In alkaline media
generally referred as Kraft Process, the woodchips are cooked in liquor including sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium sulfide (NaS
2
). Mixture of sulphurous acid (H
2
SO
3
) and
bisulfide ions (HSO
3
-
) is used in acidic media named as sulfide process.
During the pulp processing, approximately 5-10% of the lignin comes from the raw
materials cannot be removed and these are responsible from the dark colour of the end
product. The production of white paper (pulp bleaching) includes five or optional six
treatment steps with sequentially elemental chlorine (C1), alkali (E1), optional hypochlorite
(H) stage, chlorine dioxide (D1), alkali (E2), and chlorine dioxide (D2). The general process
steps are given in Figure 1.
2.2 Wastewater
Different pulping processes utilize different amount of water and all of these processes are
water intensive. The quality of wastewater generated from pulping and bleaching is
significantly distinctive because of the process and chemical types (Billings and Dehaas, 1971).
Approximately 200 m
3
water are used for per ton of produced pulp and most of them are
highly polluted, especially wastewater generated from chemical pulping process (Cecen et
al., 1992). Wood preparation, pulping, pulp washing, screening, washing, bleaching, paper
machine and coating operations are the most important pollution sources among various
process stages. Wastewaters generated from pulping stage include mostly wood debris,
soluble wood materials, and also some chemicals from chemical pulping process. Bleaching
process wastewater has a different quality. These wastewaters are not higher strength than
pulping process wastewater, however they include toxic components.
Process steps and the generated wastewaters from these steps are given in Figure 2.
The wastewater characteristics and their strengths changed depending upon the pulping
processing. Kraft process is widely used worldwide approximately 60% within all pulp
production includes both mechanical and chemical pulping (Holmberg & Gustavsson, 2007).
The regional or geographical distribution of the pulping processes is given in Table 1.

Region Process Type
Pulp Production (million tons)
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
North America
Chemical wood pulp 59.6 59.1 57.3 55.6 54.8 48.6
Mechanical wood pulp 16.3 16.2 15.3 14.4 13.6 11.7
Total Production 75.9 75.3 72.6 70.0 68.4 60.3
Europe
Chemical wood pulp 26.8 25.9 27.5 27.3 32.4 29.5
Mechanical wood pulp 11.5 11.2 12.4 12.1 14.3 11.9
Total Production 38.3 37.1 39.9 39.4 46.7 41.4
Table 1. Pulp production in North America and Europe (Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) Database, 2011)


Fig. 1. Process scheme of a conventional pulp and paper industry (Sumathi & Hung, 2006)


Fig. 2. Wastewater producing steps from pulp and paper mill (Smook, 1992; EPA, 1995)
The wastewaters generated from pulping process consist various wooden compounds such as
lignin, carbohydrate and extractives and the treatment of these wastewaters by biologically is
difficult. Addition of them, some toxic compounds such as resin acids, unsaturated fatty acids,
diterpene alcohols, juvaniones, chlorinated resin acids, and others can exist in the wastewaters
subjecting to the process (Pokhrel & Viraraghavan, 2004). The most important reaction in the
bleaching step is oxidation of chlorine and the main problem about the wastewater content is
chlorinated organic compounds or AOX (Sumathi & Hung, 2006).
The toxic effects of these by-products in the wastewaters on environment have been studied.
Various studies reported that fish living in pulp and paper industry wastewaters have
toxic/lethal effects on the daphnia, fish, planktons and other bioata in the receiving water
bodies (Owens et al., 1994; Hickey and Martin, 1995; Yen et al., 1996; Vass et al., 1996; Liss et
al., 1997; Lindstrom-Seppa et al., 1998; Leppanen and Oikari, 1999; Johnsen et al., 1998;
Erisction and Larsson, 2000; Schnell et al., 2000b; Kovacs et al., 2002).
2.3 Solid and hazardous wastes
Wastewater and consequently solid wastes are the main environmental problem of the pulp
and paper mills because this industry has a very water intensive production processes

(Cabral et al., 1998; Thompson et al., 2001). Solid wastes from pulp and paper industries are
mainly treatment sludges, lime mud, lime slaker grits, green liquor dregs, boiler and furnace
ash, scrubber sludges, and wood processing residuals. Wastewater treatment sludges have a
significant concern for the environment because of including chlorinated compounds (EPA,
2002). The characteristics of all solid waste generated from the pulp and paper mills are
organic exception of boiler and furnace ash. The chemicals of the solid wastes are varied
depends on the process type. Solid wastes, sources and qualities are given in Table 2.

Source Waste Type Waste Characteristic
Wastewater
Treatment Plant
Sludge
Organic fraction
consistes wood fibers
and biosludge.
Inorganic fraction
consists clay, calcium
carbonate, and other
materials
20-60% solid content
pH7
Caustic Process Dregs, muds
Green liquor dregs
consisting of non-
reactive metals and
insoluble materials;
lime mud
Power Boiler Ash Inorganic compounds
Paper Mill Sludge
Colour waste and
fibre clay including
slowly biodegradable
organics such as
cellulose, wood fibres
and lignin
Table 2. Solid waste types and sources from pulp and paper mills (EPA, 2002; Nurmesniemi
et al., 2007)
2.4 Gas emissions
Air pollutants and gas emissions are the other concern about the pulp and paper industry.
The most important gas emission is water vapours. Additionally, particulates, nitrogen
oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sulfur oxides and total reduced sulfur
compounds (TRS). The gas emissions sources and types are given Table 3.
3. Waste management
During the pulp and paper production, high usage of water and energy results in large
amount of waste generation like wastewater, solid waste and air emissions. Different types

of waste are produced from different production steps and all these wastes pose important
environmental problem. To solve this problem:
- Waste minimization can be done by using new and best available technologies.
- End-of-pipe treatment technologies should be used before the discharge and/or
disposal.

Source Major Pollutants
Chemical Pulping Process VOCs (terpenes, alcohols, phenols, methanol,
acetone, chloroform, methyl ethyl ketone
[MEK])
Reduced sulfur compounds (TRS)
Organo-chlorine compounds
Bleaching VOCs (acetone, methylene chloride,
chloroform, MEK, chloromethane,
trichloroethane)
Wastewater Treatment
Plant
VOCs (terpenes, alcohols, phenols, methanol,
acetone, chloroform, MEK)
Power Boiler SO2, Nox, fly ash, coarse particulates
Evaporator Evaporator noncondensibles (TRS, volatile
organic compounds: alcohols, terpenes,
phenols)
Recovery Furnace Fine particulates, TRS, SO2, Nox
Calcining (Lime Kiln) Fine and coarse particulates
Table 3. Air pollutants types and sources from pulp and paper mills (EPA, 2002)
3.1 Waste minimization
Modern waste minimization approach is by two means. This first way is chemical recovery
and recycling. This system especially in chemical pulping process significantly reduces
pollutants and additionally economical return is another important aspect. Chemical
recovery is necessary because of the basic economic viability of the kraft process. According
to EPA, all kraft pulp mills worldwide use chemical recovery systems. However, there is
still no recovery system in some sulfite mills. Additionally, scrubber system particulate
"baghouses" or electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) are often mill air pollution control
components (EPA, 2002).
The second way to minimize waste production from pulp and paper mills is the application
of best available techniques (BAT) according to the Integrated Pollution, Prevention and
Control (IPPC) Regulation. An effective waste minimization method reduces cost, liability,
regulatory burdens of hazardous waste management (Rouleau & Sasseville, 1996; Holland,
1997). Furthermore, hazardous waste generation can be reduced by waste management
methods including:
- production, planning and sequencing
- process adjustment and/or modification
- raw material replacement
- housekeepingwaste segregation ans seperation
- recycling

The industries have developed and applied new technologies instead of conventional
pulping and bleaching processes. Some examples of these new technologies are given
below:
Organic Solvent Pulping: This process is more economical for small and medium scale
plants for significant recovery and reuse of chemicals. In this process, organic solvent like
ethanol, methanol, etc. are preferred. However, this process is more energy consumer than
conventional ones (Sumathi & Hung, 2006).
Acid Pulping: Acetic acid under the high pressure is used for treating of wood chips. The
disadvantage of this process is to loss of acid, however recovery is possible (Sumathi &
Hung, 2006).
Biopulping: Microorganism or microbial enzymes such as xylanases, pectinases, cellulases,
hemicellulases, ligninases, and their combination are used in the pulping process to improve
the properties of pulp (Kirk et al., 1996). Biopulping is preferred because:
- To reduce the chemical and energy utilization
- To reduce the pollutants
- To increase the yield and strength properties of pulp.
Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) and Total Chlorine Free (TCF) Bleaching: Elemental chlorine
has been used instead of chlorine dioxide and hypochlorite and oxygen, ozone, caustic soda,
and hydrogen peroxide have been applied for TCF bleaching of Kraft pulps to reduce the
chlorinated organic wastes (Sumathi & Hung, 2006).
Biobleaching: Fungal cells and or their enzymes are used for pretreatment of pulp. A
number of studies showed that application of white rod fungi reduces the chemical dosage
of bleaching and enhances the brightness of paper (Kirkpatrick et al., 1990; Reid et al., 1990;
Daneult et al., 1994).
Extended Delignification: Enhanced removal of lignin before bleaching step is the main
concern of this method (Gullichsen, 1991; McDonough, 1992). It may be achieved by extended
cooking, oxygenation, ozonation, and addition of chemical catalysts. Extended delignification
positively affect on the bleach effluent quality parameters such as COS, BOD, color and AOX.
3.2 Treatment strategies
Although the best approach is to minimize the waste generation from the pulp and paper
mills and to recycle, the treatment applications are still necessary. In this section, up-to date
treatment technologies are given.
3.2.1 Wastewater treatment
End of the pipe pollution treatment strategies are necessary to provide the discharge limits.
The general flow-chart of a typical wastewater treatment plant is given Figure 3.
The main treatment application for wastewater generated from pulp and paper process is
primary and secondary treatment. However, tertiary treatment can be an obligation in
future due to possible new legislations. The physicochemical step is rare at present.
Primary Treatment
In this step, the aim is to remove suspended solid such as bark particles, fiber, fiber debris,
filler and coating materials and consequently organic materials. Primary clarification can
also be achieved without sedimentation and flotation. However Thompson et al. (2001)
mentioned that sedimentation is generally preferred application for the pulp and paper
mills in UK and approximately 80% of suspended solid was removed successfully. Also

Rajvaid and Markandey (1998) reported 70-80% of removal in the sedimentation. Dissolved
air flotation and filtration are the other option as primary treatment for pulp and paper
mills.

Fig. 3. Flow scheme of general wastewater treatment plant of pulp and paper industry
Secondary Treatment
Aerobic lagoons, activated sludge systems, anaerobic treatment and sequential biological
treatment (aerobic-anaerobic or anaerobic-aerobic) are the most common biological
treatment application for pulp and paper mills. In this section, the details of these processes
are given and they are discussed. Performances of various biological treatment processes are
summarized in Tables 4.
Activated Sludge Systems:
This conventional treatment system is used in treatment of several industrial wastewater
types in order to remove COD, BOD, SS, and AOX. There are a lot of studies in the literature
to show the treatability of pulp and paper mills by activated sludge system. Some of them
focused on the BOD, COD, AOX and other specific compound removal under different
operation conditions. Schnell et al. (1997) showed that 74% of filtered COD, nearly %100
BOD5, resin and fatty acid removal were achieved in the full-scale plant. Saunamaki (1997)
reported that 82% and 60% COD removal efficiency at paper mills and pulp mills,
respectively in full-scale activated sludge systems of Finland. Knudsen et al. (1994) claimed
high COD and BOD removal efficiency by two stage activated sludge process. Also Hansen
et al. (1999) and Chandra (2001) showed similar results.
The other part of these studies focused on the removal of AOX and other specific
compounds such as chlorinated phenols, guaiacols, catechols, vanillins, 1,1-
dichlorodimethyl sulfone (DSS), and chlorinated acetic acid (Mohamed et al., 1989; Demirbas
et al., 1999; Bajpai, 2001; Chandra, 2001). The main operational problems of the pulp and
paper mills are macro nutrient (N and P) limitation in the systems and growth of the
filamentous microorganisms and bulking problems. The nutrient limitation problem is
overcome by addition of nutrient. However, the dosage is important point on this step
because the external addition causes adverse environmental effects such as eutrophication.

Cingolani et al. (1994) highlighted that the main causes of bulking in the pulp and paper
mills treatment are poor oxygenation, low organic loading rates and also nutrient
limitations. This problem can also be controlled by installation of a selector or addition of
chemicals such as chlorine, ferrous salts, lime or talk powder. Selectors are mostly preferred
application for bulking (Forster, 1996; Marten and Daigger, 1997; Prendle and Kroiss, 1998;
Andreasen et al., 1999).
Aerated Lagoons (Stabilization Basins):
Aerated lagoons are the simple and economical biological systems and they have been
studies very well as lab-scale and full-scale at the pulp and paper mills. These systems have
been used for removal of BOD, low-molecular weight AOX and fatty acids at full-scale
applications (Bajpai, 2001). Stuthridge and Macfarlane (1994) showed that 70% of AOX
could be removed efficiently in a short residence time. Welander et al. (1997) reported that
COD removal was achieved as 30-40% in a full-scale lagoon and 60-70% in a pilot-scale
plant. Lab-scale treatability studies were conducted by Chernysh et al. (1992) to monitor the
AOX and TOC removal of bleached kraft effluent. Slade et al. (1999) also reported three
aerated stabilization basins, which treated elemental chlorine free (ECF) integrated bleached
Kraft mill effluents.
Anaerobic Treatment Processes:
Anaerobic treatment processes are more suitable for treatment of high strength wastewater
such as pulp and paper mills. In the literature, there are a variety of studies on the anaerobic
treatability and microbial community of this type of effluents (Poggi-Varaldo et al., 1996;
Bajpai, 2000; Ince et al., 2007). Also, anaerobic microorganisms are more efficient than
aerobics in order to degrade chlorinated organic compounds. However, the sulphur content
in the wastewaters is the main disadvantages for application of anaerobic systems, because
one of the end products is hydrogen sulphide in the anaerobic biodegradation in the
presence of sulphate (Lettinga et al., 1991). Although Hamm et al. (1991) reported that the
toxic effect of H
2
S is less than high concentration of Ca
2+
and SO
4
2-
. The other important
issues for the application of anaerobic treatment in pulp and paper mills are toxicity of
wastewater, anaerobic biodegradability characteristic of specific waste types such as lignin
derivates, resin and fatty acids, loading capacity, response to loading fluctuation, and
recovery of energy and chemicals (Sumathi and Hung, 2006). Several hundred tons of
inorganic chemicals per day for delignification are used in a conventional pulp and paper
mill. So, the recovery and reuse of these chemicals are one of the most economical and
environmental concern. Addition of it, the black liquor is rich in lignin and a conventional
pulp and paper mill produces 1.7-1.8 tons dry solid of black liquor per ton produced pulp
and the potential energy of this liquor from anaerobic digestion is 250-500 MW (Stigsson,
1998; Larson et al., 2000). Anaerobic contact reactor, up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket
(UASB) reactor, anaerobic filter, and fluidized bed reactor are mostly employed reactor
types in pulp and paper mills. The anaerobic treatment efficiency of different plants from
pulp and paper industry is given in Table 5.
Fungal Treatment:
Fungal species have been used to remove colour and COD from pulp and paper mills (Eaton
et al., 1980; Livernoche et al., 1983; Wang et al., 1992; Gokcay and Dilek, 1994; Duran et al.,

1994; Sakurai et al., 2001). Pencillium sp., P. chrysosporium and white rod fungi are the most
widely used species. Choudhury et al. (1998) reported that Pleurotus ostreatus was removed
77% of lignin, 76.8% of BOD, 60% of COD, and 80% of colour.
Tertiary Treatment
Coagulation/Precipitation:
Addition of metal salts to generate larger flocs from small particles for removing the
pollutants easily is the main principle of this method. There are some studies to find the
most effective chemicals such as horseradish peroxide (chitosan), Al
2
(SO
4
)
3
,
hexamethylene diamine epichlorohydrin polycondensate (HE), polyethyleneimine (PEI)
to remove AOX, total organic carbon and colour (Tong et al., 1999; Ganjidoust et al., 1997).
The authors reported that chitosan is more effective to remove these pollutants from
others. Dilek and Gokcay (1994) stated that alum salts as coagulant were removed 96%
of COD from the paper machine, 50% of COD from pulping, and %20 COD from
bleaching effluents. The other study showed that polyelectrolytes were more effective
than the conventional coagulant on the removal of turbidity, COD, and colour (Rohella et
al., 2001).
Adsorption:
This method relies on the addition of an adsorbant such as activated coke, fullers earth, coal
ash, activated carbon, and activated charcoal to the wastewater to remove the pollutants.
High removal of colour by activated charcoal, fullers earth, and coal ash was reported
(Murthy et al., 1991). Also Shawwa et al (2001) showed that high removal of colour, COD,
DOC, and AOX from bleaching wastewater by activated coke.
Chemical Oxidation:
Advanced oxidation methods such as photocatalysis, photo-oxidation, Fenton type
reactions, wet oxidation, ozonation are used to achieve the destruction of chromophoric and
nonchromophoric pollutants in pulp and paper mills. The achievement of photocatalytic
reaction in the removal of COD is depended on the concentration of COD and chloride,
which are below a certain level (Balcioglu and Ferhan, 1999). Fenton and photo-fenton
reactions are highly effective for the treatment of bleaching kraft mill effluent (Perez et al.,
2002). Verenich et al. (2000) showed that wet-oxidation are increased the biodegradability of
the pulp and paper mill effluent from 30% to 70%. Also ozonation is one of the most
effective methods. Several author showed that the effectiveness of this method (Hostachy et
al., 1997; Zhou and Smith, 1997; Yamamoto, 2001; Freire et al., 2000).
Membrane Filtration:
Membrane filtration is a potential method to remove colour, COD, AOX, salts, heavy metals,
and total dissolved solids from pulp and paper mills (Zaidi et al., 1992; Afonso and Pinho,
1991; Falth, 2000; Merrill et al., 2001). The effluent of membrane filtration can be used again
in production process or discharge directly to the receiving water bodies. Dube et al. (2000)
showed that 88% and 89% removal of BOD and COD, respectively was achieved by reverse
osmosis (RO).
The performance of physico-chemical process at the pulp and paper industry is summarized
in Table 6.



Table 5. Selected anaerobic process performance at different pulp and paper industries
(Bajpai, 2000)


3.2.2 Management and disposal of solid wastes
Integrated solid waste management of pulp and paper mills are through anaerobic digestion,
composting, land applications, thermal processes such as incineration/combustion, pyrolysis,
steam reforming, and wet oxidation.
Anaerobic Digestion: This process type is a cost effective way due to the high-energy
recovery (Verstraete and Vandevivere, 1999; Mata-Alvarez et al., 2000). Industrial wastes,
which have high organic content and digestable, are suitable for anaerobic digestion like
paper sludge and wastewater treatment plant sludge (Kay, 2003; CANMET, 2005).
Composting: This method is suitable for the wastes and sludge, especially paper fibres and
organic materials. The wastes are stabilized via microorganisms with minimal carbon loss.
The end product of this process, humus-like material, can be used for houseplants,
greenhouse and agriculture (Jokela et al., 1997; Hackett et al., 1999; Christmas, 2002; Gea et
al., 2005).
Land Application: This method has been preferred disposal method, especially for the acidic
soil due to CaCO
3
content of sludge. This application is widely used in the United Kingdom
and Northern Europe. Before the application, dewatering and/or incineration treatment are
done to the waste/sludge in order to reduce volume (Carr and Gay, 1997; Van Horn, 1997).
Incineration (Combustion): Combination of incineration with power and steam generation is
one of the most applied methods in Europe, especially for wastewater treatment plant
sludge. However, water and ash content of most sludges cause the energy deficiency.
Fluidized bed boiler technology is becoming the one of the best solution for the final
disposal of paper mill wastes in order to provide successful thermal oxidation of high ash,
high moisture wastes (Busbin, 1995; Fitzpatrick and Seiler, 1995; Davis et al., 1995; Albertson,
1999; Porteous, 2005; Oral et al., 2005).
Pyrolysis: In this process, organic wastes are converted to gaseous and liquid phase under
high temperature and in the absence of oxygen. This is an alternative technology to
incineration and landfill. This method is suitable for organic content high wastes such as
wood, petroleum, plastic waste. However this technology is not sufficient for pulp and
paper mill waste. Some investigations have been continue to adapt this technology to pulp
and paper mills (Fio Rito, 1995; Frederik et al., 1996; Kay, 2002; Fytili and Zabaniotou, 2008).
Steam Reforming: This technology is used for sludge treatment, however it is still
considered as an emerging technology for paper sludges. Steam reforming is a novel
combustion technology, which carries out in a steam reforming reaction system (Durai-
Swamy et al., 1991; Aghamohammadi and Durai-Swamy, 1995; Demirbas, 2007).
Wet Oxidation: The principle of wet oxidation is that organic compound as solid or liquid
form is firstly transferred to water where it contacts with an oxidant under high temperature
and pressure. During wet oxidation, waste pulped with water is carbonized and its fuel
value increases to the equivalent of medium-grade coal. The waste does not cause any air
emission in order to combust without flame or smoke (Kay, 2002). This technology is also
considered as an emerging technology like steam reforming.
3.2.3 Treatment of gas emissions
Air pollution control at pulp and paper mills has been important concern in the recent years.
Especially VOCs produced form pulp and bleaching steps and steam are conventionally
treated by physico-chemical methods such as adsorption to activated coal filters, absorption,
thermal oxidation, catalytic oxidation, and condensation (Eweis et al., 1998). I spite of these

pollutants are removed from gaseous phase, they transferred another phase and they are
also different pollutants for environment. More innovative approach to solve this problem is
biofilters and bioscrubbers that have three steps to remove pollutants from gaseous phase;
- The transfer of pollutants from air to liquid phase,
- The transfer of pollutants from liquid phase to biofilm phase where microorganisms are
located, and
- Mineralization of pollutants by microorganisms.
4. Conclusion
The paper demand increases every day as a result of developed population and
industrialisation. Water and energy utilization and in particularly waste generation are
becoming more important concern ever worldwide. A major goal is to decrease damage to
environment by waste minimization, reuse and recycle. To use best available techniques and
innovative methods is becoming more an issue. However, end-of-pipe treatment is still the
major approach to minimize the risk. To evaluate pollutants and to develop treatment
technologies need a holistic approach.
The major pollution load constitutes wastewaters from pulp and paper mills. A variety of
wastewater is generated from diverse processes. Different technologies and their
combinations have been used for their treatment. The most common applied systems are
biological treatment, sequential anaerobic and aerobic systems, followed after primary
treatment. Solid waste management and disposal are also another concern. During the final
disposal step, the aim should be chemical compound and energy recovery because of
environmental and economical aspects. However, the waste minimization has still the first
and important approach. Biofilters and bioscrubbers are mostly used for removal of air
pollutants and other applications are limited.
The best available treatment technology for all three waste phases depends on the
production processes, raw materials and the regulations, which the industries have to obey.
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12
Retrofit Approach for the Reduction
of Water and Energy Consumption
in Pulp and Paper Production Processes
Jess Martnez Patio and Martn Picn Nez
University of Guanajuato
Mxico
1. Introduction
This chapter describes a comprehensive approach that allows a water and energy reduction
in industrial processes. This technique is based on the retrofit concept. An analysis of retrofit
has the feature to perform in a systematic way, a series of steps that guides practices and
help to identify opportunities for saving water and energy.
Methodologies and techniques have been implemented independently in (pulp) industries
in order to reduce water and energy consumption. At industry level and particularly in real
pulp and pulp processes, methodologies and techniques to reduce independently water
consumption as well as energy consumption have been implemented.
Pinch Technology began its application to this kind industry in 1990 (Calloway et at. 1990)
to optimize energy using the traditional methodology introduced by Linnhoff et al. (1982).
Subsequently, using the Pinch Analysis concept, Berglin et al. (1997) incorporated a
mathematical programming work and an exergy analysis; they achieved the reduction of
energy consumption in two pulp mills. Koufus et al. (2001), used sequentially Pinch
Analysis and later on Water Pinch Analysis (WPA) methodology for these industries (Pulp
and Paper), getting first of all an energy reduction and then a water reduction. In the paper
of Rouzinuo et al. (2003) Pinch Technology proved to be a great tool for the integration of
new equipment in processes for pulp and paper industry at an application in Albany
(Oregon, USA) achieving the reduction of energy consumption significantly. Savulescu et al.
(2005c), presented a processes integration technique based on Pinch Technology to reduce
water (WPA) and energy (Pinch Analysis) in a Kraft process pulp mill; in the same way
Towers (2007), applied Pinch Technology for water reduction.
The concept of energy reduction through the water reduction in the pulp and paper
industry was applied by Wising et al. (2005). With the same concept, Nordam et al. (2006),
presented a design for water and energy systems reducing energy consumption by reducing
water use.
For water reduction (exclusively) in a pulp mill (Kraft process), Parthasarathy et al. (2001) used
mass integration for effluent reuse and thereby reduce water consumption. Similarly Lovelady
et. al (2007) reduced water consumption by optimizing the discharge effluent reuse water.
As it has been mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the application of technologies for the
reduction of to reduce water and energy is performed independently, however, it has been


248
established that water and energy are directly related. First these papers works analyze the
opportunities for water minimization and later, an energy study is realized in order to
conclude that reducing water, energy consumption also reduces.
The methodologies mentioned in previous paragraphs do not discuss the main
characteristics concerning the operation of pulp and paper process; in fact, process
conditions (stream flow rate, temperature, concentration, etc.) give the information to
identify the objectives of the minimal use of water and energy.
Recently, Savulescu et al. (2008) published a work where heat is recovered through the
mixing of streams and the dilutions that take place. However for this type of systems, they
do not provide an integrated methodology where water and energy is reduced
simultaneously.
The central premise of this work is that internal aspects of the process must be analyzed in
order to look into opportunities that will change the operating conditions to achieve a more
efficient use of water and energy. The internal aspects of the process that must be analyzed
are: separation processes, reaction processes and equipment performance. The chemical
operations involved are those used for the separation of (lignin), unwanted material that
accompanies the final product (cellulose). Depending on the level of conversion in the
reaction, the next step (washing) will require more or less amount of water. Therefore, by
increasing the conversion, a decrease in the water consumption can be expected. By
modifying the water streams, the energy requirements for the bleaching operation are also
modified. Any change in the operating conditions, will have an effect on the equipment
performance, and this should be evaluated.
This chapter presents a case study in a Kraft Pulp Mill (Fig. 1). The general process
flowsheet is described in the following section.
2. Pulping process
Pulp is obtained from different types of cellulosic material sources, e.g. wood and other
fibrous plants. The procedure for obtaining pulp from these materials is called pulping and
its purpose is the purification and separation of cellulosic.
There are different categories of pulping processes: chemical and mechanical pulping.
Chemical pulping methods rely on the effect of chemicals to separate fibers, whereas
mechanical pulping methods rely completely on physical action. The two main chemical
processes are: the Kraft process (alkaline) and the Sulfite process (acid). The mechanical
process produces higher yields compared to the pulp process; Mechanical pulps are
characterized by high yield, high bulk, high stiffness and low cost. They have low strength
since the lignin interferes with hydrogen bonding between fibers when paper is made.
Wood is debarked and chipped, and the chips screened to eliminate fine material and over-
sized chips. The accepted chips are fed to a pressure vessel, the digester. The chips are
steamed with direct steam to eliminate as much of the air as possible. The cooking
temperature is maintained until the desired degree of delignification is reached, after which
the digester contents go to a blow tank. The pulp from the blow tank is then washed and
screened. Residual lignin is removed from pulp by bleaching with chemical reagents. All
bleaching treatments have certain common steps. The consistency of the pulp suspension is
set in a washer or de-watering device to a target level; temperature and pH may be adjusted
by controlling the wash water temperature and pH on the washer of a preceding stage. The
suspension is pumped via one or several mixers to a co-current tubular reactor, which may
Retrofit Approach for the Reduction of Water
and Energy Consumptionin Pulp and Paper Production Processes

249
be atmospheric or pressurised. The suspension is then transported to a washer for the
removal of dissolved material. Finally, water is removed from the pulp through a drying
process.

Fig. 1. Simplified diagram of a pulping process.
3. Overall retrofit strategy for the reduction of water and energy in pulp and
paper processes
3.1 Hierarchical methodology
The guidelines set by Westerberg et al. (1979), the so-called strategy of the onion diagram
(Linnhoff et al. 1982), (Shenoy, 1995) and the heuristic approach (Douglas, 1988), are
examples of procedures for the design based on the decomposition of the process in stages.
The philosophy behind each of these approaches is the basis for implementing the necessary
strategies for the minimization of water and energy in real processes. In this work a
hierarchical approach is developed for the retrofit of existing process aiming at the
reduction of water and energy consumption.
Basic to this approach is a profound knowledge of the process; it continues then with the
extraction of information and then the implementation of the heuristic rules and
methodologies for analysis. A graphical diagram of the hierarchical approach is shown in
Fig. 2 by means of an onion diagram. The various steps are described below:
- Reaction:
- Analysis of chemical reaction route
- Reaction system (reactors)
- Water use system
- Water regeneration for reuse
- Heat recovery system
3.2 Reaction
The layer of reaction is subdivided into two levels: one is related to the analysis of the route
of reaction and the other one is related to the system of reactors. In this stage, the type of
chemical reaction, the kinetics and the reactor design are analyzed in detail.
3.2.1 Analysis of the chemical reaction route
The stage of bleaching is a section of the process for pulp production where chemical
reactions take place. The purpose of the bleaching process is to withdraw the maximum
amount of lignin contained within the pulp. In this stage, the type of reaction that is carried
out in each of the different stages of the bleaching process is analyzed. The chemical
compounds that are used in the bleaching stages are identified. In the case of an existing
plant, the analysis of the route of reaction may trigger a series of actions allowing the


250
implementation of technologies with greater reaction conversion while reducing the water
consumption.

Fig. 2. Retrofit approach based on the concept of the "Onion Diagram ".
3.2.2 Reaction system (reactors)
Once the route of chemical transformation of the process is known, the reactor system
design is then considered. This involves the examination of a three way trade-off between
equipment, level of conversion and reduction in water consumption. In the case of the
bleaching process, the lower the amount of solids product (pulp) at the outlet of the reactor;
the lower is the amount of water that is needed to reach the required concentration in the
filtering stage, as it is shown in the Fig. 3. Equation 1 (Walas, 1988) shows the relationship
between mass flow rate, the volume of the reactor and concentrations.

e F
e
x x V
F r
= (1)
F = Flow rate
V = Volume of the reactor
x
e
= Final conversion
x
F
= Initial conversion
r
e
= Conversion rate
Knowledge of the characteristics of the bleaching reaction and reactor volume, the actual
reaction rate can be determined. This information is then used to determine the additional
reactor volume needed for more lignin to react. The flow diagram of Fig. 3 shows the way
fresh water consumption is linked to the level of lignin conversion in the reactor. Since fresh
water is used to dilute the reactor outlet stream for it to be filtered downstream, as amount
of lignin that reacts increases, the lower the amount of solids at the reactor outlet. This

251
condition results in less fresh water being needed for dilution and therefore water savings
are obtained. In addition, warm water is added into the filter for furthering the removal of
impurities from the cellulose.

Fig. 3. Area of chemical reaction and filtering in the stage of bleaching.
3.3 Water use system
At this stage a water pinch analysis is carried out. Let us consider the washing section of the
process that consists of a series of physical separations for the removal of impurities from
the pulp coming out from the digester (Fig. 4). This pulp receives the name of raw flesh
because it has not been bleached yet. At this stage, a large amount of water is used. It is
therefore important the implementation of techniques that lead to the reduction of water.
The large amounts of water used and the physical nature of the process are conducive for
the implementation of the Water Pinch Analysis (WPA) technique which seeks to minimize
the consumption of water. These conditions are also appropriate to pose an optimization
problem by means of mathematical programming, seeking to reduce the total operation
costs. Both techniques are effective for the analysis, synthesis and improvement of the water
networks. Furthermore, they take into account the concepts of reuse and regeneration of
water that have an impact on the generation of wastewater or effluents while minimizing
the water consumption.

Fig. 4. Washing system.


252
3.4 Water regeneration for reuse
Once exploited and completed all the options for the reduction of water consumption
through the measures implemented in the first two layers of the onion diagram, the next
step consists in the application of water regeneration techniques. At this level, different
techniques for feasible decentralized regeneration of the effluents for water reuse should be
evaluated (Fig. 5). Among the typical regeneration technologies are those of physical,
chemical and biological nature. The selection of the regeneration system should be based on
a series of considerations such as: equipment cost, operating costs, ease of implementation,
availability, etc.

Fig. 5. Regeneration system for water reuse.
3.5 Heat recovery system
The last stage in the hierarchical strategy is to identify the options for reducing energy
consumption through the maximization of the heat recovery and the quantification of direct
savings generated by the simple reduction of the water consumption. In some cases, when
the economic scenario is favorable, the savings of steam can be channeled to the production
of electrical power in cases where the process plant is integrated with a cogeneration system.
4. Applications and case study
The case study in this section uses information from a real pulp plant. The methodology
described in the previous section is implemented step by step with the aim of reducing
energy and water consumption.
Knowledge of the various aspects of an existing plant allows us to identify particular
situations that apart from theory lead us to incorporate certain considerations that make the

253
application practical. For instance, the plant layout, the economic environment, the time
required for the delivery of the projects which will require modifications and investment,
the plant production rate and its fluctuations throughout the year, etc. The application is
shown below.
4.1 Process description
The raw material used for the production of pulp is a short fiber wood from eucalyptus. The
Kraft process is divided into four main stages, namely: cooking, screening and washing,
bleaching and drying (see Fig. 1).
4.2 Application of the methodology
4.2.1 Analysis of the reaction stage in the bleaching process
As stated in the previous section, the first step consists in the analysis of the reaction route.
In the case under consideration, chemical reactions take place during cooking and bleaching.
The focus of the analysis will be around the former stage since it involves the consumption
of fresh water.
The process proceeds by means of an Elemental Chlorine Free reaction (ECF) (Gullichsen et
al., 1999) and takes place in three stages with three reactors arranged in series. The reactions
are: D0 (oxygen delignification), EOP (Alkaline extraction reinforced with oxygen and
hydrogen peroxide) and D1 (Chlorine dioxide). It is important to mention that the plant
under consideration does not have an oxidizing stage previous to bleaching for the removal
of lignin which implies that pulp reaches the process with a large Kappa number

(the Kappa
number that determines the weight percentaje of lignin in the pulp. This is: % lignin in pulp
= 0.15 x Kappa number). It has been identified that as the lignin conversion increases in the
reactor, the consumption of fresh water needed for effluent dilution for the filtering stage is
reduced.
From equation 1 it is possible to calculate the rate of reaction (r
e
) since the design
parameters of the installed reactors are known. In the case of the D0 reactor, with a volume
of 183.084 m
3
, the volumetric feed (water and pulp mixture) is 216 m
3
/hr. For the calculation
of the reaction conversion as the kappa number moves from 28 to 8, the density of the
mixture is needed. To this end, the pulp concentration of the feed is known to be 9.4% by
weight; the density of the pulp is 1250 kg/m
3
, so the overall density is determined below:

( ) ( )
3
3
1250 0.094 1000 0.906
1023.5
DO
DO
kg
m
kg
m
| |
o = +
|
\ .
| |
o =
|
\ .
( 2 )
Knowing the kappa number at the inlet and outlet of the reactor, the amount of lignin is
calculated to be:

( ) 0.15 . %
0.15 28 4.2 %
initial initial
initial
Lignin KappaNo
Lignin
=
= =
( 3 )

( ) 0.15 . %
0.15 8 1.2 %
final final
final
Lignin KappaNo
Lignin
=
= =
( 4 )


254
The inlet and outlet lignin concentration is found to be:

( )
( )
( )
( ) 3
3
100
4.2
1023.5 0.094
100
4.040778
initial
o DO flow
o
o
Lignin
L Concentration
kg
L
m
kg
L
m
| |
= o
|
\ .
| |
=
|
\ .
=
(5)

( )
( )
( )
( ) 3
3
100
1.2
1023.5 0.094
100
1.154508
final
f DO flow
f
f
Lignin
L Concentration
kg
L
m
kg
L
m
| |
= o
|
\ .
| |
=
|
\ .
=
(6)
Once the lignin concentrations are known it is possible to determine the reaction conversion
(X
F
) from:

( )
( )
-
4.040778 1.154508
4.040778
0.7143
o F
F
o
F
F
L L
X
L
X
X
=
=
=
( 7 )
Then, the rate of reaction can be calculate from:
1
-
183.084 0.7143
216
3600
0.000234089
e F
e
e
e
x x V
F r
r
r s
=
=
=

Knowing the rate of reaction it is possible to determine the reactor volumen needed to take
the kappa number form 8 to 4 (Gullichsen et al. 1999). This is, achiving higher conversion at
the expense of investing in additional reaction volumne. Under the information so far
obtained, it is determined that a volume of 219.7 m
3
is needed. Fig. 6 shows the process
information and the water consumption that are required for the two scenarios, namely: a
conversion corresponding to a kappa number of 8 (original) and a conversion correponding
to a kappa number of 4 (new). From the results it can be concluded that the increase of the
reactor volume by 36.61 m
3
allows more lignin to be removed from the pulp and
consequently a mass reduction in the effluent is achieved; therefore, less fresh water is
required to achieve a concentration of 1.2% which is required for an effective operation ofthe
filter. In addition, the filter will consume less water for washing.
If the rector volumen was increased by 40 m
3
, for a total volume of 223.084 m
3
, calculations
show that the fresh water consumption would be reduced by 11.511 m
3
/hr. For an

255
economical analysis, costs information is taken from Peters and Timmerhaus (1991). So, for
the year 1990, the cost of a glass fiber linned reactor is approximately $ 190,000.00 USD. The
cost is brought upto date by considering the the cost index according to:

( )
Cost Index (August 2008)
f
Cost Index Reference year
u
= ( 8 )
Taking the cost indexes from Chemical: Engineering Plant Cost Index-USA (1990) and
Economic Indicator, Chemical Engineering (August 2008), the following factor is obtained:
389
1.6967
660
f
u
= =
So, the approximate up-to-date cost is:
190000 1.6967 322365 $ US =
To determine the fresh water consumption, the cost of extraction per m3 of water is 1.2 US$
[Robin Smith, 2005]; considering a total of 8000 working hours, the water cost is
( ) ( )
( )
3
3
$
1.2 11.511 8000
Water
US m
Cost hrs
hr
m
=
110506 $
Water
Cost US / year =
From the information above, the payback period for the revamping of the bleaching reactor
is approximately 3 years. For the second and third reaction stages, the lignin content is low
enough to consider that the expected water saving would not justify the investment in
reactor volume.

Fig. 6. Fash water consumption for different reactor volume (D0).


256
4.2.2 Water using system
Once the first hierarchical level has been covered, the second level is considered. This level
corresponds to the pulp washing stage.
The purposes of the washing process are: a) the removal of un-reacted wood chips and non
fibrous impurities from cellulose; b) the removal of soluble solids present in the fiber. The
pulp washing step contains two filters that operate counter currently and a continuous
rotary filter as shown in Fig. 4. Details of the operation of the equipment are shown in Fig. 7
and operating data are given in Table 1. The case is solved using a heuristic approach and
the results are compared to those obtained a mathematical optimization.

No. Flowrate
(ton/hr)
Concentration
(%)
Mass Load
(Kg)
No. Flowrate
(ton/hr)
Concentration
(%)
Mass Load
(Kg)
1 72.250 12 8700 9 49.769 1.7 846
2 217.500 0 0 10 332.523 2.466 8223
3 290 3 8700 11 299.067 0 0
4 56.725 0 0 12 632.590 1.3 8223
5 62.971 2.1 1322.4 13 167.503 0 0
6 283.754 2.6 7377 14 732.134 0.009369 68.59
7 18.553 0 0 15 67.959 12 8155
8 31.755 1.5 476.3
Table 1. Operating data of the washing step.
From Fig. 7 we see that the first filter removes the larger solids and its effluent is sent to
filter 2 where smaller size solids are removed. The main stream from these two filters is sent
to the rotary filter 3 where the pulp is finally washed for the bleaching step.
The total fresh water consumption in this process is of 759.348 ton/hr. As mentioned before,
the effluent from the first filter (62.97 ton / hr) is processed again for further pulp recovery.
Effluents reaching tanks 1 and 2 have different type of contaminant and different
concentrations which imply that for water reuse, independent analysis must be conducted.
Total water usage is given by stream 2, 4, 7, 11 y 13 (759.348 kg / hr). Streams 2 and 11 give
the pulp the required consistency whereas streams 4, 7 and 11 are used for washing. Table 1
shows the mass flow rates, concentrations and mass content of these streams.
In this part of the study, water pinch technology is applied (WPA). Some studies have been
published on the application of this technology to total sites (Jacob et al., 2001; Koufus et al.,
2001); however, in this work a local analysis is carried out. In a global study, one aspect that
is ignored is the actual location of the water using operations; however, this aspect must be
considered in a real plant application. Other aspects to be considered are: pulp recovery
form water, the design of the piping network and the actual design and the operation of the
equipment. For the case of filter 1, the operating data is:
( ) 1
56.712
ton
f
hr
=
1
, 0 ( )
in
C ppm =
1
1324 m A =
kg
hr
| |
|
\ .


257

Fig. 7. Detail of streams and equipment in the washing process.


258
The outlet concentration limit, C
1,out,
is obtained from equation (9):

, lim 3
lim lim
, ,
10
[ ]
i total
i
i out i in
m
f x
C C
A
=
(9)
3
lim
,
1324( / )
56.712( / ) 10
[ 0]( )
i out
kg hr
ton hr x
C ppm
=

C
1,out
= 23346 (ppm)
Table 2 shows the limit concentrations of the stream that will be used to remove the mass of
contaminant (m) with the minimum amount of fresh water (56.712 ton/hr). The inlet and
outlet concentrations of contaminant to the filters are given in Table 3.
The information from Table 3 is used to construct the concentration-composite curve where
the pinch point is obtained (424 ppm). This point represents the concentration limit of
contaminant that can be used; it also shows the minimum fresh water consumption
considering water reuse.

Filter
(no.)
f
i

(ton/hr)
C
in
(ppm)
C
out

(ppm)
m
(kg)
1 56.712 0 23346 1324
2 18.546 0 25666 476
3 167.520 0 424 71
Table 2. Fresh water data in filters.
The amount of contaminant removed from each process and the total removal (1871 kg/hr)
are shown in Fig. 8. The analysis indicates that fresh water is fed to operation 3; part of its
effluent is reused in operation 1 and 2 as shown in Fig. 9.
The data form Table 3 is used to design the water network structure by means of
mathematical programming. The final design is shown in Fig. 10. Although using both
approaches the same minimum water consumption is obtained; however, the network
structure is different.

Filter
(no.)
f
i

(ton/hr)
C
in
(ppm)
C
out

(ppm)
m
(kg)
1 290.000 18780 23346 1324
2 62.952 18105 25666 476
3 632.400 311 424 71
Table 3. Process data of stream feeding the filters
Both the structures of Fig. 9 and 10 represent grass-root designs and they can be used to
identify ways to improve o the existing structures. Now, there are some operating aspects
that the former designs do not consider. For instance, none of the designs considers the start
up and stabilization of the plant; besides, they do not allow residual water to be used to take
the filter inlet to the required concentration. The actual operation of the various pieces of

259
equipment is difficult to incorporate in the design such as the case of the filters and its
efficiency in connection to the concentration load and the required flow rate that will
remove the contaminant. An important issue in this process consists in the removal
undesirable material such as stones, plastic and other pulp residues. It is also true that the
pulp still contains un-reacted wood chips that can be re-circulated back to the main reactor
in order to increase the production of pulp. Taking all these elements into consideration, the
series of practical implementations to the washing stage that allow for the reduction of
water consumption are described below.

Fig. 8. Concentration composite curve for the washing process.

Fig. 9. Design of the water network structure using WPA.


260

Fig. 10. Design of the water network structure using mathematical programming
Fig. 11, shows the washing process where two intermediate stages have been included. The
first one removes non usable contaminants such as stones, plastic, etc., and those that can be
reused in the process (i.e. pulp and wood chips). The effluent from this first stage passes
through a second treatment where the pup is further cleaned prior to the bleaching stage.
In order to incorporate these aspects such as the plant start up and the way the operating
conditions change as the steady state is reached. Table 4 shows the process information
during the start up, on the other hand Fig. 11 and Table 5 present the operating data once
the process has been stabilized.

No. Flowrate
(ton/hr)
Concentration
(%)
Mass Load
(Kg)
No. Flowrate
(ton/hr)
Concentration
(%)
Mass Load
(Kg)
1 72.500 12 8700 14 732.480 0.009369 68.6
2 217.440 0 0 15 67.920 12 8151
3 289.920 3 8700 16 591.678 0.009369 55.4
4 56.712 0 0 17 140.322 0.009369 13.2
5 62.940 2.1 1322 18 31.746 1.5 476
6 283.680 2.6 7376 19 5.589 2.316 129.5
7 18.546 0 0 20 26.157 1.326 346.9
8 31.746 1.5 476 21 26.157 1.326 346.9
9 49.758 1.7 846 22 26.157 1.326 346.9
10 334.020 2.466 8237 23 1.260 0.238 3
11 298.980 0 0 24 26.157 1.314 343.9
12 632.400 1.3 8222 25 1.260 0 0
13 167.520 0 0
Table 4. Process information for the start up of the washing process.

261

Fig. 11. Representation of the pulp production process after reduction of fresh water
consumption.


262
No. Flowrate
(ton/hr)
Concentration
(%)
Mass Load
(Kg)
No. Flowrate
(ton/hr)
Concentration
(%)
Mass Load
(Kg)
1 72.500 12 8700 14 767.140 0.009369 71.87
2 202.731 0.009369 18.99 15 71.208 12 8545
3 302.600 3 9078 16 596.167 0.009369 55.85
4 54.412 0.009369 5.566 17 170.973 0.009369 16.02
5 65.748 2.1 1380.7 18 33.199 1.5 498
6 296.264 2.6 7702.9 19 5.831 2.321 135.4
7 19.483 0.009369 1.825 20 27.369 1.325 362.634
8 33.199 1.5 498 21 27.369 1.325 362.634
9 52.032 1.7 884.54 22 27.369 1.325 359.007
10 348.296 2.466 8547.4 23 1.260 0.2878 3.626
11 314.541 0.009369 29.47 24 27.369 1.312 359.007
12 662.837 1.3 8616.9 25 1.260 0 0
13 175.512 0 0
Table 5. Process information for the stabilized process.
On the start up of the plant, 760.56 ton/hr of fresh water are needed. Of these, 168.78 ton/hr
are sent to the washing stage while the rest, 591.678 ton/hr are used for dilution purposes
before entering filter 3. Once the regeneration processes enter into operation and the reuse
of effluent 3 is established, the fresh water consumption is reduced to 176.772 ton/hr. From
the ongoing discussion it can be seen that regeneration and reuse considerable reduce the
fresh water consumption by reducing the need of using fresh water to feed the filter at a
concentration of 1.2%, thus achieving a saving of 582.626 ton/hr.
In the case under consideration there are various types of effluent stream with different
contaminant concentrations, therefore it is important the adequate selection of the
regeneration process for water reuse of recycling whatever the case. Regeneration processes
are of the distributed type unlike the end of pipe treatment, which in the majority of cases is
of centralized type. Fig. 12 shows the inlet and outlet process water flow rates.

Fig. 12. Water effluent streams of the pulp production process.
4.2.3 Regeneration for water reuse
Fig. 13 shows the application of a specific treatment to each of the effluent streams in the
pulp production process. Appropriate selection of each of these treatments is critical since
given the different contaminant composition.

263
The characteristic of the effluents of the cooking processes as given by Sumathi and Hung
(2006) are: high oxygen demand (BOD), color, it may have sulfur and resin reduced
compounds. The effluent of the washing process, on the other hand, contains large amounts
of suspended solids (SS), BOD and color. The effluent from the bleaching process contains
organochloride compounds, BOD and resin. Now, the level of regeneration can be total or
partial. The main types of regeneration processes can be divided in to physical-chemical and
biological. Amidst the physical-chemical are: membrane separation techniques (inverse
osmosis, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, etc.), chemical flotation and precipitation and
advanced oxidation processes. The biological processes are: activated sludge, anaerobic
treatment, sequential anaerobic-aerobic system and fungi system for color and organo-
halogenated derivatives.
It is important to emphasize that in the majority of cases 100% regeneration is not targeted;
however, what is sought is the minimization of the fresh water consumption and the flow
rate o the discharged effluent. In this part, no numerical results are presented since this is
outside the scope of this work.

Fig. 13. Distributed treatment system for the effluents from each of the stages of the pulp
production process.
4.2.4 Heat recovery system
The reduction of fresh water brings about important changes in the need of energy
consumption since the pulp production process requires water streams at different
temperatures. This stage of the analysis seeks to clearly identify the situations where energy
is reduced as a result of a reduction in water consumption through the application of pinch
analysis.
Fig. 14 shows the case where water consumption is reduced after increasing the conversion
in one of the reactors if the bleaching stage. If fresh water is available at 40C and it has to be
heated up to 60 C before been fed to the filter as shown in Fig. 15, the amount of energy
saved is 52.1 kW . So, in order to take the temperature from 20 C to 40 C, the water and
energy saving is 10.391 ton/hr and 242.45 kW, respectively.
Another type of sitations that arises is the one shown in Fig. 15, where stream 13 enters the
process at 60 C and stream 12 reaches the filter at a temperature equal or larger than 35 C.
After a water reuse scheme is applied, stream is reused 11 and since its temperature is above
35C, an energy saving of 5,504 kW is achieved compared to the system where fresh water is
used.


264

Fig. 14. Schematic of an energy saving application in the washing stage.

Fig. 15. Schematic of an energy saving process application.
In summary and putting together the results of the reviewed operations (washing and
bleaching), the total amount of water saved is 582.626 ton/hr and an energy saving of 5504
kW is achieved. En el blanqueo se obtiene un ahorro de agua fresca de 11.511 ton/hr y un
ahorro de energa de 294.55 kW. It is important to mention that water and energy savings
have been achieved simultaneously by applying the methodology to particular unit
operations.

265
5. Conclusions
This chapter has introduced a genera approach for the retrofit of existing processes for the
reduction of water and energy consumption. The methodology introduced is based on a
conceptual structured scheme with different hierarchical levels arranged in the following
way:
Level 1. Analysis of the reaction system
Level 2. Analysis of the water using network
Level 3. Analysis and implementation of water regeneration schemes.
Level 4. Analysis of the heat recovery system.
This new approach direct us to determine the way changes to operating conditions affect the
water and energy requirements in a process. In addition, these modifications can be viewed
in the light of an economical analysis which shows the economical feasibility of the retrofit
projects.
6. Acknowledgment
Thanks to Haydee Morales Razo. This work was supported by SEP-PROMEP (Mxico)
through grant PROMEP/103.5/11/0140.
7. References
Calloway, J., T. Retsina, et al. (1990). Pinch technology in practical kraft mill optimisation.
Engineering Conference Proceedings.
Linnhoff B. Townsend, D.W., Boland, D., Hewitt, D.F., Thomas, B.E.A., Guy, A.R. and
Marsland RH. (1982)User Guide on Process Integration for the Efficient Use of
Energy, Institution of Chemical Engineers. IchemE, Rugby-UK.
Berglin, N., J. Strmberg, et al. (1997). Using process integration to approach the minimum
impact pulp mill. Environmental Conference Proceedings.
Rouzinou, S., T. Retsina, et al. (2003). Pinch analysis: A powerful tool for the integration of
new process equiment into existing pulp and paper. Fall Technical Conference.
Savulescu, L., B. Poulin, et al. (September 2005 c). "Water and energy savings at a kraft
paperboard mill using process integration." Pulp & Paper Canada 106(9): 29 -31
Towers, M. (March 2005). "Energy reduction at a kraft mill: Examining the effects of process
integration, benchmarking, and water reduction,." Tappi Journal 4 (3): 15 - 21.
Wising, U., T. Berntsson, et al. (2005). "The potencial for energy savings when reducing the
water consumption in a Kraft Pulp Mill." Applied Thermal Engineering 25: 1057 -
1066.
Nordman, R. and T. Berntsson (2006). "Design of kraft pulp mill hot and warm water
systems- A new method that maximizes excess heat." Applied Thermal Engineering
26: 363 - 373.
Parthasarathy, G. and G. Krishnagopalan (2001). "Sistematic reallocation of aqueous
resources using mass integration in a typical pulp mill." Advances in Enviromental
Research 5 61 - 79.
Lovelady, E. M., M. El-Halwagi, et al. (2007). "An integrated approach to the optimisation of
water usage and discharge in pulp and paper plants." International Journal of
Environment and Pollution 2007 29(No. 1/2/3): 274 - 307.


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Savulescu L. E., A. Alva-Argez, Direct heat transfer considerations for improving energy
efficiency in pulp and paper Kraft mills, Energy, 33(10) (2008), 1562-1571.
European Commission (2001). "BREF in the Pulp and Paper Industry".
Westerberg A. W., H.P. Hutchinson, R.L. Motard y P. Winter (1979). "Process Flowsheeting",
Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, England.
Shenoy U. V. (1995)."Heat Exchanger network Synthesis", Gulf Publishing Co. 1995
Douglas J. (1988), "Conceptual Design of Chemical Processes". Mc Graw-Hill Co.
Walas S.M (1988) Chemical Process Equipment Selection and Design, Butterworths
Gullichsen J., C.J. Fogelholm, Papermaking Science and Technology Chemical Pulping,
Fapet OY, Helsinki, 1999.
Peters, M., Timmerhaus, K. 1991. Planta design and economics forchemical engineers. 4. ed.
Mc.Graw Hill. Nueva York, NY. EEUU.
R. Smith, Chemical Process Design and Integration, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester,
2005.
Jacob, J., H. Kaipe, et al. (2002). "Water network analysis in pulp and paper processes by
pinch and linear programming techniques." chemical Engineering Communications
189(2): 184 - 206.
Koufos, D. and T. Retsina (2001). "Practical energy and water management through pinch
analysis for the pulp and paper industry." Water Science Technology 43 (2): 327 -
332.
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the Process Industries. (Editores: Wang, L.K., Hung Y., Lo H.H., Yapijakis, C.).
Editado por Taylor and Francis. Pp 453-497.
13
An Application Model for Sustainability
in the Construction Industry
Fernando Beiriz and Assed Haddad
Federal Fluminense University and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Brazil
1. Introduction
Over the years, mankinds development of a large industrial capacity and its ability to create
new technologies that turn easier societys daily life has been a mark of innovation era. In
many developing industries, technologies are incorporated into daily life by becoming
indispensable to the modern lifestyle. Waste production has been increasingly alarming
throughout the world, standing as a major problem to be solved.In order to achieve life
quality and be able to provide favorable environmental conditions to future generations, it is
indispensable to become conscious about environmental effects of all mankinds production
activities.
It is vital to promote and encourage an environmental sustainability culture development:
meeting societys demand of industrial and technological products with the indispensable
proper disposal of their products at the end of life, that is, discard minimizing
environmental impacts on the completion of its life cycle.
Some measures have been taken over recent years, with the intention of minimizing the
generation of environmentally hazardous waste in the world, emphasizing the relevance of
changes in production processes. In the specific case of construction, begins to be aroused
interest from external factors. Among them, there is the availability of solutions to minimize
negative environmental impacts identified and applicable management tools.
Methods for evaluating environmental performance of the construction industry and
increased competition in the industry and customer requirements are also seen as elements
boosters, which come to be added to increase environmental awareness at the part of
builders.
Similarly, as many construction companies have implemented quality management systems
that have brought them considerable benefits, it increases their interest in introducing
environmental elements into existing systems. However, there are few builders that are
committed to environmental issues. Still, environmental solutions have begun to be applied
in enterprises, although this does not ensure continuous improvement and sustainable
development of the sector.
Despite its recognized economic impacts to the country such as: high job creation, income
and viability of housing, infrastructure, roads and others; in the construction sector one still
lacks a firm policy for disposal of solid waste, mainly in urban centers.
The need to take the RCC not only results in a desire to economize. This is a fundamental
attitude towards the preservation of our environment.


268
The important thing to be improved in this sector is the management process, with the
decrease in solid waste generation and appropriate management of the same construction
site, building awareness of the actors involved, creating the methodology.
It is noteworthy that is necessary a change of culture among all those involved in the
process of IC, indicating the importance of preserving the environment we live.
Therefore, it is notorious the necessity of a mentality change in the aspect of environmental
sustainability at the IC sectors stakeholders, in order to fortify and develop a responsible
conduct, aware of the relevance of preserving and extracting as better as possible the
environments resources.
2. Construction industry sustainability
The term sustainable development can be seen as a key word this time. As there are
numerous definitions for this term, the two most common definitions known, cited and
accepted are the Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987) and the document known as Agenda 21.
The best known definition of the Brundtland Report, presents the question of future
generations and its possibilities. It contains two key concepts: the necessity and the idea of
limitation. The first refers particularly to the needs of developing countries and, second, the
idea imposed by the state of technology and social organization to meet the needs of present
and future.
The question of emphasis on the social component of sustainable development is reflected in
the debate taking place about the inclusion or not of social measures in the definition. This
discussion appears in the variety of ideas about sustainability that contains components that
are not usually measured, such as cultural and historical. Social indicators are considered
particularly controversial, since they reflect political contexts and value judgments. The
integration of mitigation measures is further complicated because of different and often
conflicting dimensions. The definition of the Brundtland Report does not provide a static
state, a more dynamic process that can continue to exist without self-defeating logic
prevailing. The different forces acting on the system must be in balance for the system as a
whole is maintained over time.
According to Pearce (1993), there are different environmental ideologies that make
environmentalism a complex and dynamic phenomenon. Inside of environmentalism, the
author identifies two ideological extremes: on one hand the technocentrism, and the other
the ecocentrism. Within this continuum one can identify four fields, with particular
characteristic.
Pearce uses four classifications: sustainability very weak (very weak sustentability), weak
sustainability (weak sustentability), strong sustainability (strong sustentability) and
sustainability very strong (very strong sustentability).
You can also find a parallel Naess (1966) makes between Deep Ecology (deep ecology) and
ecology superficial (shallow ecology). In ecology the central objective is superficial affluence
and health, along with the fight against pollution and resource depletion. Focus on deep
ecology focuses on biospheric egalitarianism and the principles of diversity, complexity and
autonomy.
Authors linked the trend technocentric believe that sustainability refers to the maintenance
of total capital available on the planet and that it can be achieved by substituting natural
capital for capital created by human ingenuity. In extreme ecocentric the authors emphasize

An Application Model for Sustainability in the Construction Industry

269
the importance of natural capital and the need to preserve it, I value not only for financial
but mainly for its substantive value.
Ecological sustainability means to expand the capacity of the planet by using the potential
found in diverse ecosystems, while the continuing deterioration in a minimum level.
It should reduce fossil fuel use and emission of pollutants, but also adopt policies for the
conservation of energy and resources to replace.
The geographical sustainability can be achieved through a better distribution of human
settlements and economic activities. It must seek a rural-urban setting most appropriate to
protect biological diversity, while it improves the quality of life.
Finally, cultural sustainability, the most difficult to bring the second SACHS (1997), is
related to the path of modernization without the disruption of cultural identity within
specific spatial contexts. To SACHS (1997), the concept of sustainable development refers to
a conception of the limits and the recognition of the weaknesses of the planet; focuses on
both the socioeconomic problem and satisfying the basic needs of populations. Although the
starting point of the various approaches is different, there is a recognition that there is a
space of interconnection or overlap between these different dimensions.
Achieve progress toward sustainability is clearly a choice of society, organizations,
communities and individuals. How covers different choices, change is only possible if there
is greater involvement of society.
In short, sustainable development requires the society to think in terms of long-term and
recognize its place within the biosphere. The concept provides a new perspective of
observing the world, which has proven to be the current state of human activity inadequate
to meet existing needs, and seriously threaten the prospect of future generations.
The goals of sustainable development challenge contemporary institutions. They have
governed global changes reluctant to recognize that this process is actually occurring. The
differences in the concept of sustainable development are so great that there is no consensus
on how to measure sustainability. Unfortunately, for most authors cited earlier, does not
have an operational definition of minimally acceptable.
All definitions and tools related to sustainability must consider the fact that no one knows
fully how the system operates; one can only discover environmental impacts of activities
and interaction as human welfare, the economy and the environment. In general, it is known
that the system interacts between different dimensions, but do not know specifically the
impact of these interactions. All aspects presented show the diversity and complexity of the
term sustainable development.
3. Reverse logistics and waste management
The high competition among companies and constant increase in efficiency in the
management processes of production, has characterized the current business environment.
Among the many processes present in a company, there is the logistics business, which is
geared to ensure the delivery of the product produced correctly in the right place at the
moment and want the lowest possible cost. In many industries, logistics has received more
attention, mainly due to the globalization of markets and consumer pressure to reduce
distribution costs.
The client, in turn, is embedded in consumer culture, which is driven by the cycle "buy-use-
disposal", demonstrating that culture is unsustainable and inadequate to perishable


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perpetuation of current conditions for survival in contemporary society, because it
stimulates the increasing manufacture of new products to the detriment of reuse and
recycling of byproducts or waste.
Thus it is observed that actions to boost consumption are not planned with a systemic view,
since their products are not useless options, structured reuse, leaving only the landfilling as
a solution to dispose of them.
In this scenario, reverse logistics, or more precisely the deployment of reverse logistics gains
importance in the supply chain. The structure of the reverse channel is a way to make new
use of these products, through a new job or a transformation of industrial processing, in
other useful products.
Thus, reverse logistics has a great interface with sustainable development, since the
mobilization of the chains allows the reuse of reverse obsolete products, byproducts and
waste, reducing the volume of discarded into the environment and the extraction of new
resources. It also presents another favorable feature, since the emergence of new business
also promotes the social, financial returns and allows companies involved in chains
reverses.
Particularly in the construction industry, reverse logistics systems are designed to develop
reverse chain for reuse of products and waste generated in production processes and establish
the agents working in it, the census of responsibility throughout the product life cycle.
This attitude is shared not only by builders but, especially, by supplying materials for these
are in an industrial environment, where there is less variability of the process. Thus, these
companies can become drivers of implementation of this concept throughout the production
chain construction.
In the construction sector, it is assumed that interest is still incipient and demonstrated by a
few industries, as are the Brazilian initiatives for the reuse of industrial waste.
Applying the concept of reverse logistics in IC may occur in several ways. It can form
themselves into organizational tool for the flow of aftermarket products, post-consumer
waste from the production process of mobilization and demobilization of equipment used
during construction of the project, and set yourself up as a new initiative or as an
enhancement of existing reverse channel.
Specifically, with regard to flows, the amount and variability of waste composition of the
construction industry generate flows of very different characteristics.
IC flows in post-consumption and production (waste) are hardly distinguished, because
they occur simultaneously, except when the demolition of a building, a notoriously product
stream after consumption.
Flows of products after sale are mainly for returns sent by mail-order and are usually
intended for the secondary market, which, for example, donated to charity. Still others come
from equipment and transportation as the return and withdrawal of lifts and cranes.
The biggest concern now rests on the post-consumer products or processes, generally
named construction waste.
Applying the concept of reverse logistics in IC may also have coverage from a company in
isolation, this and its supply chain, as well as sectored organization, or the entire production
chain (the reverse supply chain). When the reverse logistics systems of IC are shared by all
actors in the chain and these are strategic objectives aligned on the reuse of reverse flow,
consolidates the management of reverse supply chain (reverse supply chain management).


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The reverse logistics systems are formed by flows, distribution channels, reverse, or simply
reverse channels. In this study of reverse logistics systems IC correspond to the flows of
waste from construction and demolition-RCD and its reverse channels.
Flows of post-consumer products industry, construction and demolition have their roots in
construction sites. In this environment has recently developed some RCD management
initiatives.
The analysis of the requirements of laws versus the needs of the construction leads to the
conclusion about the actions necessary for the establishment of a reverse logistics system for
the RCD.
Quantifying the generation of RCD is complex because it involves the collection of field
data, since there are no precise data , nor indicators released. The generation relies heavily
on project design and technologies used, the organization of the plot, containers for
packaging of the various "bumps" of waste, and vary according to the stage of the work.
Become evident throughout the academic, claims that the IC, as well as other industrial
chains, must promote sustainable development, ie, it must develop in order to not
compromise the ability of future generations to do it too. Among the many issues involved
in policies for sustainable development of the productive chain of the IC in relation to
environmental and social dimensions, are responsible for the use of natural resources and
disposal of waste from industrial activities.
4. Brazilian environmental legislation general requirements for construction
companies
There are several Brazilian environmental legislation aspects that affect the Construction
Industry and construction companies operations in Brazil. The Waste Management Program
for construction sites and Environmental Impact Assessment Program with respective Report
and License are the most important items to be taken care. All construction sites demand
waste management attention although this Environmental Impact Assessment Program and
Report (Estudo de Impacto Ambiental - EIA/RIMA) are only mandatory in special cases.
4.1 The waste management program
This waste management program aims at the reduction of waste production and correct
destination of what remains in activities involving in construction, retrofitting, remodeling,
maintenance and demolition in all types of construction related activities and subsectors of
the Construction Industry.
Table 1. shows Brazilian Construction Waste Classification according to the legislation and
its respective destinations.
Reuse is the process of reapply some waste without transforming itself and Recycling is the
process of reapply some waste after some transformation. These are possible final
destination of A and B waste classes.
Class A wastes, before reuse and recycle, can be stored in Building Construction landfills. In
these sites special disposal storage techniques are used having in mind preservation of these
segregated materials for its future use or the use of the land itself throughout application of
some engineering principles to confine them. The Construction Industry Waste
Management Integrated Plan (Plano Integrado de Gerenciamento de Resduos da Construo
Civil) structured as shown above.


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Construction Waste Classification
Classification Characteristics Examples Destination
Class A Reusable waste or
recyclable as
aggregate
Brick blocks and
tiles, dirt, concrete,
mortar
Reused or recycled
Class B Recyclable Plastics,
paper/cardboard,
metal, glass, wood
pieces
Class C Not existent
technology for
recycling
Gypsum Stored, transported
and disposed in
conformity with
specific standards. Class D Hazardous Waste Coats, solvents, oil
Table 1. Brazilian Construction Waste Classification

Fig. 1. Construction Industry Waste Management Integrated Plan Scheme.
Construction Industry Waste
Management Integrated Plan
Management Municipal Program
Management Projects
Implemented and coordinated
by citiy governments
Establish technical standards
and procedures for small waste
generators responsabilities
according to established rules
Elaborated and implemented by
generators
Objectives the
establishment of necessary
environmental adequate
procedures
for handling and destinaton of
waste
Follow these steps:
caracterization;
segregation;
condittioning;
transport and
destination


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This plan must have:
Technical standards and procedures for the Construction Industry Waste Management
Municipal Program and the Construction Industry Waste Management Projects,
elaborated by large waste generators, aiming the creation of a sense of responsibility by
all generators;
Mapping of public or private areas, suitable for receiving, segregation a temporary
storage of small waste volumes, according to urban municipal zoning. This allows
further destination for waste management plants or recycling;
Establishment of licensing procedures for areas of processing and final waste
destination;
Determination of prohibition of disposal in non licensed areas;
Incentives towards reuse or recycling;
Determination of parameters and criteria for registration of waste transportation
companies;
Environmental education actions towards waste management of construction waste.
4.2 Environmental impact assessment program and report
An Environmental Impact Assessment Program and Report is mandatory for CC seeking
construction licenses for construction sites in which considerable environmental impacts
will happen, such as:
Roads with two or more lanes;
Railroads;
Ports and terminals for oil and gas, chemicals products and mining;
Aeroports;
All types of pipelines including sewage, oil, gas, mining and others;
Power lines, beyond 230KV;
Water resources facilities including Hydro Plants beyond 10MW, irrigation works,
sewers, navigation channels, etc;
Fossil fuels extraction;
Mining extraction;
Sanitary landfills, toxic or hazardous;
Power Plants generating more than 10MW;
Industrial and agricultural units and complexes;
Industrial districts and strictly industrial zones;
Wood exploration in large areas or in some subject to special environmental interest;
Urban Projects in large areas or in some subject to special environmental interest;
Any activity use coal from vegetal sources in excess to ten tons a day.
Canals and Harbour structures
The Environmental Impact Assessment must: I - evaluate all technological and location
alternatives for the project including the possibility of non development; II - identify and
evaluate systematically all environmental impacts taken place during the implementation
and operation phases of the project; III determine the project directly and indirectly
affected area geographic boundaries subject to environmental aspects and impacts of the
project (denominated project influence area); IV - consider governmental proposed pans and
programs for the project influence area and their compatibility.


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4.3 Environmental licenses
The Environmental License is an administrative act by which the environmental agency,
establish conditions, restrictions and environmental control actions to be followed by
companies and enterprises seeking construction, installation, addition and operation of
projects and activities that which to use natural resources, with the potential to harm or
affect the environment. The following construction activities demand licensing in Brazil:
Highways, railroads, subways and waterways;
Barrages and levees;
Drainage channels;
Water courses rectification;
Opening of channels, enlargement of rivers
Transposition of river basins;
Other special works.

ENVIRONMENTAL LICENSING
License type Characteristics Validity
Previous License
Licena Prvia (LP)
Preliminary or in the
planning phase of the project
Approves localization and
concept
Ensures environmental
availability
Basic requisites and
conditions to fulfill in further
phases towards project
implementation
Minimum: according
to what was
scheduled in the
activity or project
approved plans,
programs and
designs

Maximum: 5 years
Operation License
Licena de Operao (LO)
Authorizes installation
according to specifications
from approved plans,
programs and designs
Includes environmental
control actions and conditions
Minimum: according
to what was
scheduled in the
activity or project

Maximum: 6 year
Installation License
Licena de Instalao (LI)
Verifies effective
accomplishment of previous
licenses, conditions and
environmental control plans
for the operation
Authorizes the activity or
project operation
Should consider the
environmental
control plans

Minimum: 4 years

Maximum: 10 years
Table. 2 Brazilian environmental Licenses.
The Brazilian Environmental Criminal Law (Brazilian Federal Law 9.605/98) was an
important mark that determined higher attention in licensing activities. It determines that
Build, restore, addition, install or operate, in any part of the country, establishments,
construction sites or services potentially hazardous without license or authorization from
environmental agencies or against the rules and regulations ins unlawful and is subject to
imprisonment from one to six months and fine.


275
5. A model for sustainability in the construction industry
The model presented here will apply for technical and economic issues, the major producing
areas of waste. These regions represent large urban centers or may result from the formation
of a conglomerate or consortium of adjacent municipalities, bringing together the legislation
compatible.
Importantly, the current stage of the construction industry in Brazil, already in itself justify
the existence of a rigid model of treatment and recovery of debris from the construction
industry in all regions of the country This scenario will be aggravated and may even be
become untenable, with the advent of achievement, in Brazil, Football World Cup in 2014
and the Olympics in 2016, when major works and demolitions have to be made, generating
an abnormal amount of debris. Moreover, the practice of waste treatment of IC is very
incipient in the country, and even negligible in the State of Rio de Janeiro, where he will
focus the Olympic Games of 2016.
5.1 Principles of motion
Any model to be functional and efficient it has to rely on a set of interdependent and
harmonious elements, rules and procedures. In the proposal in focus, we list the main points
and actions that should be considered:
Clear and comprehensive legislation - the recent National Policy on Solid Waste
culminating in Brazil in August, 02 of 2010, is a great motivator to take seriously the
treatment of waste from the construction industry. But, it is necessary that the state and
local public authorities commensurate with their organic laws that policy, clearly and
objectively, and promote a public-private partnership, to put into practice the recycling
of construction debris in their areas of coverage ;
Effective supervision - one of the major problems faced by municipalities is the illegal
dump sites and on public roads, including transport companies themselves accredited.
It is essential to pursuing a proactive surveillance for the balance of the process, using
modern technology, such as control by GPS;
Existence of incentives for products and services involved in the process - is important,
for example, that recycled materials are treated with different taxes in relation to new
products;
Existence of penalties for violating a law by service providers and generators of rubble -
the penalties should be meaningful in order to promote greater accountability of
individuals and companies in the process of disposal of construction waste, in favor of
environmental control and panorama of cities;
Encouraging the use of modern techniques and methodologies for building large
projects in order to reduce the debris - debris is often generated by deficiencies in the
construction process, such as failures or omissions in the preparation of projects and
their implementation, poor quality of materials employees, for losses in transport and
storage, improper handling by the workforce, as well as replacement components for
the reform or reconstruction. Improved management and control of works, use of
modulation techniques and also joint work with companies and construction workers
can help to alleviate this waste;
The whole region should be provided with one or more treatment plants and waste
processing, depending on the volume to be processed;
Strategic location of collection points and disposal of debris (Ecopoints) for small and
medium-sized generators of rubble;


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Area of Transshipment and Triage (ATT), which is the equivalent of an Eco Center for
the receipt of large volumes of debris, from large generators;
Location of areas of rubble landfill officials IC;
Implementation of policies for environmental management and waste treatment in
large generators, such as construction and demolition;
Specialized transportation network;
Educational campaign at all levels, including the population in general - is to clarify and
encourage the integration of the self in the process.
5.2 Operational architecture model
The following Figure illustrates the components involved in the model for treatment of
wastes from the construction industry, as well as the flow routing in each of the elements
produced at each location.

Fig. 2. Management architecture of the rubble IC
5.2.1 Small and medium generators of the debris of the IC and Ecopoints
According to the definition given in Resolution No. 307 of CONAMA, generators are
individuals or entities responsible for activities or enterprises that produce construction
waste. Constitute small and medium-sized generators, for example, construction projects
and reforms implemented in commercial or residential units of small or medium size.


277
The existence and management of eco-points are essential for efficient control of collection
of debris from construction, to avoid dropping these, irregular, illegal or inappropriate
points.
Ecopoint sites are provided, usually by public authorities, waste disposal in a voluntary and
free basis. They can be made simply by buckets, properly prepared by a land or a house,
always located near point of generation potential, and easy access.
Figure 3 shows some examples of existing Ecopoints in the State of So Paulo.

Fig. 3. Ecopoint Bresser and Ecopoint Pinheiros
The process for using these services is simple: just take the waste from construction such as
cement, bricks, tiles, plaster, wood and other debris from construction, Ecopoints. It is
anticipated with the disposal of debris up to 1m
3
cubic volume per user per day, equivalent
to roughly 25% of a bucket. If the construction or renovation generates a tremendous
amount to be disposed of more than 200 liters, it will be needed to hire a company
specialized in the collection services and transportation of debris.
As the debris in Ecopoints received, from small and medium generators are generally very
impure, must be carefully separated, to be given the correct destination for each type of
material found in them. Therefore, they should be compulsorily transferred to a triage area
and Transshipment of Waste (TTA) for treatment.
5.2.2 Large generators of the debris of IC
Large debris generators generate over 1m of waste from construction or demolition. Are
those that require buckets to carry your trash. Usually they are responsible for construction
and remodeling of large, for example contractors, builders and technicians responsible for
works. The big generators are responsible for disposal of rubbish they generate. In such
cases it is necessary to hire a transport company of construction waste.
In the case of buildings with more than 500m , the generator must develop and deploy
rubble in building site, a Waste Management Program of Construction and prove that the
waste generated was disposed of in an environmentally correct.
The waste in construction site varies according to the execution phase of services. Much of
the debris generated during the entire construction can be used as aggregate in various


278
stages of the building, considering, however, that the mineral fraction (cementitious
material and ceramic) is the only one to be recycled and used on the construction, the other
fractions as wood, metal, plaster, plastics and paper, should be directed to the appropriate
local recycling or disposal of these materials, such as ATT's and Plants. Other components
can even be sold or donated for reuse in the case of demolition, such as doors, windows,
bathrooms and kitchens metals, etc.
Therefore, it is necessary to be aware of the entire site, followed by pre-established
procedures for the use and destination of the waste. First you must establish debris
generated separation: ceramic and cement, wood, contaminants, metals, plastics and paper,
for example. Each fraction will have its place of deposit in the quarry. This separation plot is
not complex, because the debris is generated by separate activities, such as the use of
mortars have will only cementitious material and other activities on the debris will only
generate carpentry wood. The non-recyclable rubbish is disposed off on site, while
recyclable rubbish is processed subsequently disposed.

Fig. 4. Segregation of waste at the construction site
In large enterprises, it is sometimes advantageous and desirable that the machining is done
on the construction work. In this case, for crushing are generally used small equipment,
with an average production of about 2m
3
per hour, with power and manual removal of the
products. Equipment is simple and easy to use, where: mortar-mill, hammer mill, grinder or
plaster jaw crusher.
Besides improvements on the environment, the management of recycling at construction site
brings good economic advantages, such as:


279
Reducing the volume of rubbish sent to ATT or plant, reducing the cost of removal;
More organized and clean site;
Reduced acquisition of aggregate material;
The large main emphasis is to recycle the rubble in the works is the financial aspect: do not
waste material already paid and still be able to produce products with low costs are rather
compelling reasons. As an example we have that the projected cost per cubic meter of
mortar with recycled material is around U$ 36, while a cubic meter of conventional mortar is
US $ 62.00.
5.2.3 Area overflow and waste segregation (ATT)
Transshipment Areas and Waste Sorting of Construction (ATT) are the premises for the
receipt of bulky construction waste collected by private agents, which should be used for
screening of incoming materials, processing and any subsequent removal for proper
disposal. So are sites used for routing and segregation of waste for disposal.
ATT is typically a business that belongs to the autonomous initiative of collecting small
businesses or cooperatives, and are deployed and operated by observing the law of
municipal land use and occupation, as well as federal and state legislation to control
environmental pollution when appropriate.
As these are areas, in the context of the proposed architecture, are administered by the
private sector, generating jobs and revenues for receiving debris from the construction and
sale of sorted waste, which could enable an effective overview for the efforts that are being
developed in favor of a sustainable environment. This initiative is breaking old paradigms,
showing that waste reduction can be combined with cost reduction, combining behavior
change in various work to build partnerships with various vendors, abolishing the provision
is irresponsible outlaws illegal boot through committed the allocation of each component of
sorted waste, so that the responsibility to the environment that anchors the economic
activity is exercised. The following picture illustrates an overview of the Transfer Area and
Screening.

Fig. 5. ATT in the outskirts of Guarulhos in Sao Paulo


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5.2.4 Landfills of waste places
In most cases, the debris is removed and disposed of the work clandestinely in places like
vacant lots, riverbanks and streets of the suburbs. The social and environmental cost of this
is beyond the control of the calculations, although its consequences are permanently noted.
We can see the deterioration of quality of life in urban areas such as transport, flood, visual
pollution, proliferation of disease vectors, among others. One way or another, the whole
society suffers from the uneven deposition of debris.
The debris is residue from a large volume, occupying so much space in landfills,
transportation, depending not only on volume but the weight, it becomes expensive.
Recycling and reuse of rubble are therefore of fundamental importance for the control and
mitigation of environmental problems caused by the generation of waste.
The existence of authorized local landfill dump in the context of this proposal is due to the
fact that some debris from work, or certain residues after machining or segregation from the
rubble at the ATT, is not be recovered. Have to be discarded, and this time it is important
that they are received at licensed sites and specific for this purpose.
The landfill is now the most widely used solution for its ease of implementation and others.
But still has a very high environmental cost, and some administrators end up not respecting
the rules or find other alternatives. When implementing the standards are not met, the
sanitary landfill is no longer and begins to set up the so-called dump.
A plausible alternative is the separation of waste into inert and non-polluting material
(domestic waste, commercial, industrial and hospital) and material (waste derived from
construction). This alternative, while reducing costs, since the landfill for inert material is
cheaper than landfill, allows it to be used mainly in projects that address the reuse and
recycling of such materials. This idea becomes valid once the aggregates are a major source
of raw material at a relatively low cost.

Fig. 6. Landfill construction debris (Hall BH)


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5.2.5 Treatment plants and processing waste IC
In the current global context is essential to improve the construction processes. However,
recycling of rubbish comes as a solution to the materials that are inevitably lost. Recycling
allows the reuse of raw materials, reducing the demand for more material, reducing energy
consumption and protecting the environment more and more waste, which would take
millions of years to be decomposed by nature. Recycling becomes disordered the mountains
of building materials, piles of raw material, which serves both as building works for public
works. There are two ways to turn losses into profits: one for the private sector and another
for local governments.
The process of recycling the rubble for obtaining aggregates basically involves the selection
of recyclable materials from rubbish and grinding in their proper equipment. The screening
phase of an ATT must proceed independently or integrated into the processing plant.
The recycling of rubble can be done at facilities with different characteristics for equipment
used which may be mobile or fixed.

Fig. 7. Plant equipment: a set vibrating feeder jaw crusher + + belt
5.2.6 Logistics of moving the rubble
The debris generated by small works must necessarily be disposed in Ecopoints. Therefore,
their transport should be done by an independent group of carriers, using vehicles intended
for freight, cars and even wheelbarrows. Optionally, the service of withdrawal of small
volumes of debris generated in small works may be offered by the city. In this case, the
municipality may dismiss them Ecopoint a neighbor, or even carry an ATT.
The transportation of debris from the ecopoint, should be done by the municipality or by an
outside company for her. Should be discarded in an ATT, because it is a very heterogeneous
rubble.


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For works of medium sized businesses that generate significant amounts of debris, transport
must be hired by the generator, companies accredited by the Government, working with the
transport of rubble multi cranes using trucks and dumpsters. In this case, the debris must be
disposed directly in ATT, because it is a dump, as a rule, heterogeneous, with a disposal cost
based on volume, the carrier paid to ATT.
In large constructions and demolitions, debris intended for disposal should be conducted at
a plant where have characteristics suitable for recycling at no cost by the receiving plant.
When the debris is heterogeneous, an ATT should be discarded with the burden of the cost
of disposal by the generator.
The transfer of rubble in an ATT and screened for the disposal shall be transported to a
recycling plant to the landfill or dump, depending on their character, on behalf of the
Government, that you can do so directly or through third party service .
The waste is not usable in a plant should be discarded in a landfill dump, under the
responsibility of the plant.
6. Validation of the model
The economic infeasibility of a CDR of recycling is often a logistical problem results mainly
from the high cost of collection and transportation arising from the existence of many points
of consumption and few points of waste recovery.
The main objective of the recycling center regardless of whether a, private or public, is to
diminish the distance between the product and its potential buyers. Consequently, this
reduces the environmental and economic impacts arising from that transport.
Efforts can be properly rewarded by the possibilities of raw material savings - as
demonstrated in the analysis of economic viability, partnership with large generators, acting
responsibly towards the environment and differential image in the marketplace.
The simulations of economic viability analysis proved that, currently, there are conditions
for the economic viability of waste recycling of ICC.
The most appropriate model is the one that would establish co-responsibility, including
environmental liabilities, among the managers of plants and ATT, waste generators and
transporters. The manufacturer must develop, together with research institutions,
appropriate disposal options and the developer must ensure that the flow of waste will be
properly addressed to the appropriate places.
7. Conclusions
Government agencies need to establish laws, which define:
Responsibilities and joint responsibilities of each agent on the management of RCD;
Forms of surveillance and punishment of its fulfillment;
A ban on the disposal of certain wastes at landfills, especially those based on plaster;
Tax on the disposal of certain wastes at landfills;
Tax on the purchase of certain products that generate waste disposal difficult to manage
and / or high negative environmental impact;
Subsidies for the implementation and operation of recycling plants;
Minimum and maximum indices of recycled content in certain products;
The environmental certification of products.


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Trade unions should organize their members assisting in the dissemination studies and
awareness of environmental responsibility and sustainable construction. The academy needs
to develop knowledge about, especially the technical restrictions and new applications of
the RCD.
Consumers of recycled products shall also assist in establishing clear and objective
specifications and minimum quality and performance required for their consumption.
Despite growing concern for companies of ICC in relation to environmental sustainability,
few initiatives have been taken. This finding is confirmed in the case of manufacturers who
have a low involvement with respect to the disposal of waste solutions from the works,
without taking into account that the generators and transporters do not show any
commitment to proper disposal.
It appears that manufacturers should encourage and support the research and take more
active role in finding solutions and provision of recycling and take the RCD in a vertical
process. This position might provide a differential in the relationship with customers, in
particular the construction companies, with more active role in the searching of appropriate
solutions for the allocation, since they are the manufacturers who have greater knowledge
about the product.
Builders, distributors, installers and ATT should consolidate the processes of performing
sorting and packaging accurately and hiring only suitable transport. They may also, through
its purchasing power, pressuring suppliers to find solutions for allocation.
Transport, in turn, must meet the stock of transport and disposal under the laws, and even
agents of change in the behavior of generators. Finally, everyone needs to establish
information system and effective communication between them.
The establishment of reverse supply chain is subject to a strong cooperation between agents,
which should be strategically aligned and have a shared vision and holistic environment in
which they live, and census of all responsibilities on product life.
We noted also that the consolidation of reverse logistics is a progressive and interdependent
relationship between the suppliers and contractors. Efforts of a single side (agent) or
scattered efforts tend to produce mediocre results and consequently no spread of its
principles.
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Procurement and Construction Management) Enterprise, RMIT University,
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Horizonte, Feb. 2004
14
Assessing the SMEs Competitive Strategies
on the Impact of Environmental Factors:
A Quantitative SWOT Analysis Application
Hui-Lin Hai
Department of Information Management, Shih Chien University, Kaohsiung Campus
Taiwan, R.O.C.
1. Introduction
In todays highly competitive environment, strategic management has been widely used by
all enterprises to withstand fierce competition. Environmental management has quickly
emerged as an essential strategic factor in many industries. Environmental considerations
are clearly becoming increasingly important and will be considered as one of the key factors
in most companies success stories. For example, recently there are many firms in Asia that
had already received ISO 14001 certification and adopted these Environmental Management
Systems (EMS) standards as their state policy. No doubt that many firms have recognized
the compatibility between environmental performance and profitability, as it witnessed by
increasing interest in recycling programs and green marketing, in part due to realizing that
the futility of running from such pressures.
Melnyk et al. (2003) apply a survey of North American managers to demonstrate that firms
having gone through EMS certification experience a greater impact on performance than do
firms that have not certified their EMS. Pan (2003) applies questionnaires to the
organizations within Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Korea on regards of ISO9000 and
ISO14000 issues. He uses statistical analysis results of the survey data to gain eight common
points for ISO9000 and ISO14000 certified firm within these four countries. Tan et al. (2003)
develop an e-commerce structure for sorting, selecting and utilizing information for the
effect of ISO9000 system. The related studies of environmental issues will be listed in
Environment Management (Ahsen and Funck, 2001; Rao et al., 2006; Gernuks et al., 2007),
Environmental Management Accounting (Jasch, 2003), ISO14001 Certification (Fryxell and
Szteo, 2002; Mbohwa and Fukada, 2002; Rennings et al., 2006) and Life Cycle Assessment for
EMS (Zobel, 2002).
In a countrys endeavor to implement EMS in both manufacturing and service sectors, the
significance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) deserves special attention. In Taiwan,
a SME is set under either two conditions. First, it is defined by the number of employees that
they often refer to those with less than 200 employees involved in manufacturing, building
and mining industries. Second, it is defined by its capital volume that is less than 80 million
Taiwan dollars. The SMEs are typically much smaller in operation compared to the global
and multinational enterprises, whereas most of the SEMs in Taiwan are positioned in the
ending-role of the supply chain. Most EMSs in Taiwanese SMEs are implemented in


286
accordance to specification in ISO 14001 or QC080000 standards, in which contain
requirements that have to be fulfilled before third-party certification and /or registration
can be achieved.
Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) analysis is an important support tool
for decision-making, and is commonly used as a means to systematically analyze an
organizations internal management capability and its external environment. The purpose of
the analysis on internal strengths and weaknesses is to assess how an enterprise carries out
its internal work, such as R&D, day to day business operation, etc. On the other hand, the
purpose of the analysis on the external opportunities and threats is to assess whether or not
an enterprise can seize opportunities and avoid threats, whilst facing an uncontrollable
external environment, such as fluctuating prices, political destabilization, etc. SWOT
analysis has been successfully applied in EMS fields, such as the environmental impact
assessment in India (Paliwal, 2006), the development of an environmental management
system (Lozano and Valls, 2007) and regional energy planning for renewable development
(Terrados et al., 2007).
For a quantitative SWOT, Kuttila et al. (2000) develop a hybrid method, the Analysis
Hierarchy Process (AHP) in the SWOT analysis, to eliminate the weakness in the
measurement and evaluation steps of the SWOT analysis. Examples in literature of studies
that follow the method of Kuttila et al. include those by Kajanus et al. (2004), Leskinen et al.
(2006) and Chang and Huang (2006). Yksel and Dadeviren (2007) demonstrate a process
for quantitative SWOT analysis that can be performed even when there is dependence
among strategic factors. They use the Analytic Network Process (ANP) that allows
measurement of the dependency among the strategic factors as well as its AHP, which is
based on independence between the factors. ANP is a more general form of its predecessor,
the AHP, for ranking alternatives based on some set of criteria. Unlike AHP however, ANP
is capable of handling feedbacks and interdependencies, which exist, in complex systems
like a manufacturing system. ANP problem formulation starts by modeling the problem that
depicts the dependence and influences of the factors involved to the goal or higher-level
performance objectives. Dependence among the SWOT factors is observed to effect the
strategic and sub-factor weights, as well as to change the strategy priorities. Dyson (2004)
provides an SWOT and TOWS analysis to create strategy formation and its incorporation
into the strategic development process at University of Warwick by scoring SWOT factors.
A variation of SWOT analysis is the TOWS matrix. In the TOWS matrix the various factors
are identified and these are then paired e.g. an opportunity with a strength, with the
intention of stimulating a new strategic initiatives (Table 1).
A top-down way of thinking could be used to guide the formulation of decision
hierarchy. In this paper, a new quantitative SWOT analysis is provided that allows
measurement of the strategic factors as well as its vote-ranking method. The first task is to
invite eighteen certificated ISO9000 and ISO14000 auditors (or lead auditors) to organize a
Task Force (TF). The TF will discuss SWOT of Taiwanese SMEs within their EMS issues
and assess the competitive strategies. The second task is to apply the internal competitive
strengths to find external market opportunities. As a result, the strategy combination for
max {strengths, opportunities} and min {weaknesses, threats} will be provided. The third
task is to regard these SWOT indexes and their sub-criteria as the candidates voted by the
task force. In conclusion, the different results of ranking will expose different weights
among the votes of the candidates.
This paper discusses the environmental issues of the SMEs not only by drawing insights
from research conducted in different countries, but also look into the use of environmental
Assessing the SMEs Competitive Strategies on the Impact
of Environmental Factors:A Quantitative SWOT Analysis Application

287
factors of SWOT through their development, their context and adaptability to enhance the
environment performance of SMEs. As for the medium, the vote-ranking method will be
used to rank the different competitive strategies and priorities. This specific method
provides a new quantitative SWOT methodology that will be extended to decision-making
issues. The rest of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 illustrates the vote-ranking
method and the conceptual approach. Section 3 discloses the use of vote-ranking method to
provide a quantitative SWOT method for assessing the SMEs competitive strategies in EMS
by six-step procedure. Section 4 discusses the results of different strategies and suggestions.
Section 5 highlights some conclusions and offers directions for further researches.
2. Vote-ranking methodology
Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is an analytical procedure developed by Charnes et al.
(1978) for measuring the relative efficiency of decision-making units (DMUs) that perform
the same types of functions and have identical goals and objectives. The weights used for
each DMU are those which maximize the ratio between the weighted output and weighted
input. DEA is a mathematical programming technique that calculates the relative efficiencies
of multiple DMUs, based on multiple inputs and outputs. A well-known method for
ranking candidates in a ranked voting system is to compare the weighted sum of their votes
after determining suitable weights. Cook and Kress (1990, 1992) present an approach to the
problem of ranking candidates in a preferential election. They consider an alternative
method which does not specify the sequence of weights by applying DEA. One would
imagine that any reasonable person, voter, candidate or poll manager would agree that the
first place votes should weigh at least as much as second place votes, and so on. They
provide the following DEA model to obtain the total score for each candidate:

( )
( )
( )
( )
1
1
( 1)
max
. . 1, 1, 2,..., ;
, , 1, 2,..., 1;
, .
S
rr rs rs
s
S
rq rs qs
s
rs r s
rS
Z u x
s t Z u x q R
u u d s s S
u d s
=
=
+
c =
c = s =
> c =
> c
(1)
Where,
s: the number of places, s =1, , S.
r: the number of candidates, r =1, , R.
u
rs
: the weights of the sth place with respect to the rth candidate.
x
rs
: the total votes of the rth candidate for the sth place.
d(s, ): the given difference in weights between sth place with (s+1)th place; d(., ), called the
discrimination intensity function, is nonnegative and non-decreasing in . Parameter is
nonnegative.
The Cook and Kresss ranked voting model (1) is assumed that in a voting system, each
voter selects R candidates and ranks them from the 1st to the Sth places, S R. The d(s, ) is
to ensure that first place votes are valued at least as highly as second place votes which are
valued at least as highly as third place votes etc. The Z
rq
is the cross-efficiency which can be
thought of here as candidate rs evaluation of candidate qs desirability. The constraints Z
rq


288
are the usual DEA constraints i.e. that no candidate q should have a desirability greater than
1 under rs weights. The Z
rr
has been used in the objective function to emphasize the
candidate rs evaluation of his/her own desirability. The rth candidate wishes to be
assigned the weight u
rs
so as to maximize the weighted sum of votes to candidate r, that is
when the score Z
rr
becomes the largest. Notionally, each candidate was permitted to choose
the most favorable weights to be applied to his/her standings in the normal DEA manner,
with the additional assurance region restriction, in which the weight for a sth place vote
should be greater than the one for a (s+1)th place vote by some amount. Hashimoto and
Ishikawa (1993) consider the candidates in ranked voting systems as the DMUs in DEA, and
each is considered to have many outputs and only one input with unity. He also deems that
it is fair to evaluate each candidate in terms of the weights optimal to himself/ herself.
Green et al. (1996) further develop this model by setting certain constraints to the weights.
They point out that the form of d(s, ) affects the ranking results and does not allow DMUs
to choose their own weights unreservedly. Therefore, they present an alternative procedure
that involved using each candidates rating of him/herself along with each candidates
rating of all the other candidates. They utilize the cross-efficiency model to DEA to obtain
the best candidate. On the other hand, Hashimoto (1997) proposes a method to determine a
total ordering of candidates specifying nothing arbitrary, but only assuming the condition of
decreasing and convex sequence of weights. They incorporate the condition of decreasing
and convex sequence of weights into DEA as the assurance region. Green et al. and
Hashimoto proposes these methods, whereabouts the existence of low preference candidates
may change the ranks and DEA exclusion model, which seems to be unstable with respect to
the inefficient candidates. Obata and Ishii (2003) consider that, the instability is caused by
the fact mentioned above and that the inefficient candidates should not be used to
discriminate efficient candidates. They also use this information only on efficient candidate
while discriminating and realizing that the order of efficient candidates never changes even
though the inefficient candidates are added or removed. Foroughi and Tamiz (2005)
simplify the model of Obata and Ishii and extend it to rank the inefficient candidates as well
as the efficient one.
Noguchi et al. (2002) revise the application of Greens method and show that different
weights among objects gave rise to different ranking results. If one wants to set particular
constraints to a weight can be employed, which is characterized by the following
constraints: (a) u
r1
> 2 u
r2
>3 u
r3
> S u
rS
, (b) u
rs
> 1/[(1+2++S)*n] =2/(n* S(S+1)), where n
is the number of voters. In this multiple criteria case, the vote-ranking model is defined as
follows:

( ) ( )
1
1
( 1)
max
. . 1 1, 2,..., ;
( 1) , 1,...,( 1);
1 2
.
* 1 1 2 ...
S
rr rs rs
s
S
rq rs qs
s
rs r s
rS
Z u x
s t Z u x q R
su s u s S
u
n S S S n
=
=
+
=
= s =
> + =
> =
+ + + + (

(2)
Where, these variables are the identical as model (1).

289
As for ranking of alternatives, one of the most popular methods compares the weighted sum
of votes after determining suitable weights for each alternative. The different weights
among objects resulted in different ranking results and propose a new method of ordering
in order to solve the problem of weights ranking. As a final point, the module solver
imbedded in EXCEL of Microsoft Office [2003] will be applied to solve the above linear
programming problems (Liu and Hai, 2005).
3. The competitive strategies of the Taiwanese SMEs for EMS
This study proposes six-step procedure for selecting the competitive strategies of the
Taiwanese SMEs. They are obtained from TF which will fall into four subjective criteria that
discuss and analyze SWOT of Taiwans SMEs in the EMS. The first step is structuring the
problem into a SWOT hierarchy. On the top level is the overall goal of selection competitive
strategies. On the second level are the four SWOT criteria that contribute to the overall goal.
The criteria (sub-criteria) for strengths (S1, S2, S3), opportunities (O1, O2, O3), weaknesses
(W1, W2, W3) and threats (T1, T2, T3) are individually presented into Level 2 and 3. On the
second level is that four criteria are decomposed into twelve sub-criteria under SWOT;
additionally on the bottom (or fourth) level, there are five alternative competitive strategies
that are to be evaluated in terms of the sub-criteria listed on the third level. These
competitive strategies (OS-1, OS-2, OW-1, TS-1 and TW-1) are assessed in Level 4 and
illustrated in Fig.1.

Fig. 1. A SWOT hierarchy for selecting the competitive strategies
3.1 Step 1: SWOT analysis
First of all, the author invites the eighteen certificated ISO9000 or ISO14000 auditors (or lead
auditors), consists of 14 part-time and 4 full-time auditors, to organize a TF in this particular
study. They are first briefed about the overall objective of the study, then specifically on the
SWOT and vote-ranking methodologies. The questionnaires are used for interviewing
purposes; however they mainly use a board or group decision method to determine the
criteria and sub-criteria for selecting the competitive strategies. The study is to apply the
internal competitive strengths to find external market opportunities. This is followed by the
analysis on the organizations external competitive environment and internal operating
environment. Consequently, the internal analysis is followed by the selection and
Strengths
Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
S1, S2, S3
W1, W2, W3 O1, O2, O3 T1, T2, T3
Level-1

Level-2

Level-3

Level-4
Strategies Selection
The competitive strategies: OS-1, OS-2, OW-1, TS-1, TW-1


290
implementation of strategies. Due to highly global nature of the Green House, the
requirements of EMS are also applicable for other countries in the European Union. For
selecting the competitive strategies of SMEs for EMS, the TF has been mainly on the
discussion of the SWOT method and problem defining after a series of revision. The strategy
combination of EMS for max {strengths, opportunities} and min {weaknesses, threats}, OS-1,
OS-2, OW-1, TS-1 and TW-1, is provided in Table 1.

Strengths:
+S1: Capability to execute and
develop EMS certification
+S2: Synergy with commerce,
environmental protection and
education units
+S3: Possessing high level of
environmental education
Weaknesses:
-W1: SMEs respond slowly and
difficultly for external customer
requirements
-W2: Some suppliers or
manufacturers are unwilling to
face higher environmental
regulation required and seek other
markets with lower quality
consciousness
-W3: The governments
regulations of environmental
protection are too loose
Opportunities:
+O1: Change in customers
preferences (increase in market
demand for EMS or QMS
certification)
+O2: Increase value-added of
product
+O3: Improvement in Green
House and in environment
Maxi-maxi (O-S) Strategies
OS-1: Extend EMS Certification
effects to create high value-added
markets
OS-2: Involve in improving
environment issues and promote
company image and profits
Maxi-mini (O-W) Strategies
OW-1:Change directly in
manufacture preferences to create
products of high environmental
requirement standard

Threats:
-T1: Diminishing specific market
demand and profitability
-T2: Government or industry
restrictive practices
-T3: Negative corporation image if
EMS certification is abandoned
Mini-maxi (T-S) Strategies
TS-1: Increase strictly government
or industry environmental regular
Mini-mini (T-W) Strategies
TW-1: Government impel
environmental education and
assistance for SMEs
Table 1. SWOT and TOWS matrixes for EMS
3.2 Step 2: priority votes of criteria and sub- criteria in SWOT
The second task is to regard these SWOT indexes as candidates that are voted by TF. The
four criteria are the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat indexes and the twelve sub-
criteria are S1-3, W1-3, O1-3 and T1-3 alternatively, within the SWOT. They are regarded as
the selected items and expected to receive votes with respect to the related elements within
the model, as shown in Table 1.
The TF illustrate the order for the four criteria and the votes for each which are shown in
Table 2. Every members will vote from 1 to S, (SsR), where R is the number of criteria or
sub-criteria. They are regarded as candidates whom are to be voted by different places.
Afterward, TF will list its priority votes of sub-criteria in fixed first criterion within Table 3.
They were only asked to determine the order of the criteria or sub-criteria, however not the
weight of each criterion or sub-criterion.

291

Criteria 1
st
2
nd
3
rd
4
th
Weights
Strengths 4 8 4 2 0.264
Opportunities 7 4 7 0 0.299
Weaknesses 2 0 7 9 0.174
Threats
5 6 0 7 0.263
* The weights are normalized and totally equal to one.
Table 2. Priority votes of four criteria
3.3 Step 3: calculate the weights of criteria and sub- criteria in SWOT
The votes on Table 2 are used to calculate the weights of the four criteria by model (2), R=4,
S=4, n=18 and the lowest weights of the fourth place are
1
180
(u
r4
> 2/ [n*S(S+1)] =2/ [18*4(5)
=0.0056]). The weights for strength, weakness, opportunity and threat at the second level are
0.884, 1.000, 0.581 and 0.882, respectively. After normalizing these data, the weights of
outcome are 0.264, 0.299, 0.174 and 0.263, as it is illustrated in column 6 of Table 2, respectively.
For Strengths in the Table 3, there are variables R=3, S=3, n=18 and the lowest weights of the
third place are 1/108 (u
r3
> 2/ [n*S(S+1)] =2/ [18*3(4) =0.0093]). Similarly, the votes within
Table 3 are using the same procedure in order to determine the weights of the sub-criteria. The
results of the weight of sub-criteria are listed in columns 5 and 10 of Table 3.

Criteria
Votes
Weights
Votes
Weights
1
st
2
nd
3
rd
1
st
2
nd
3
rd

Strengths Opportunities
S1 13 4 1 0.465 O1 15 2 1 0.495
S2 0 9 9 0.227 O2 0 15 3 0.258
S3 5 5 8 0.308 O3 3 1 14 0.247
Total 18 18 18 Total 18 18 18
Weaknesses Threats
W1 11 7 0 0.439 T1 5 5 8 0.304
W2 3 3 12 0.258 T2 5 9 4 0.336
W3 4 8 6 0.303 T3 8 4 6 0.360
Total 18 18 18 Total 18 18 18
* The weights are normalized and totally equal to one.
Table 3. Priority votes and weights of twelve sub-criteria
3.4 Step 4: scores of competitive strategies in SWOT
The competitive strategies, OS-1, OS-2, OW-1, TS-1 and TW-1 are subjective indices that
could be translated into numerical ratings using different methods, such as questionnaire,
AHP or vote-ranking and so much more. TF may ask their colleagues to answer these
questionnaires in order to rate the competitive strategies of sub-criteria of each SWOT. A
major problem was thus, to ensure the consistency between managers and to avoid any bias
creeping in. A set of standard guidelines was placed after discussions with the TF (voters). It
is mainly agreed that all performance scores would be based on a nine points grade scale.


292
Each grade would have an adjective descriptor and an associated point score or range of
point scores. The TF makes their judgment on the qualitative scale of adjectival descriptors.
Table 4 lists the example for rating the strength and opportunity indices, where the lower and
upper scores are predetermined from 1-9. The strength and opportunity indices should be
maximized, the least-favorable candidate is assigned the smallest value and the most-favorable
candidate is assigned the largest value. On the other hand, the weakness and threat indices
need to be minimized, where the least-favorable candidate is assigned the largest value and
the most-favorable candidate is assigned the smallest value. The overcoming range of
subjective indices is set between 1 and 9 illustrated in Table 5. Therefore, each of the
competitive strategy can be awarded a score from 1 to 9 on each sub-criterion.

Scores Rules
9
Greatly conforming to market and sub-criteria of requirement, successful
probability more than 90%
7
Better conforming to market and sub-criteria of requirement, successful probability
about 70%
5
Conforming to market and sub-criteria of requirement, successful probability about
50%
3
Slightly conforming to market and sub-criteria of requirement, successful
probability about 30%
1
Not conforming to market and sub-criteria of requirement, successful probability
about 10%
Table 4. Grading different strategy scores in strength and opportunity indexes

Scores Rules
9
Greatly overcoming sub-criteria requirement, successful probability more than
90%
7 Better overcoming sub-criteria requirement, successful probability about 70%
5 Exactly overcoming sub-criteria requirement, successful probability about 50%
3 Slightly overcoming sub-criteria requirement, successful probability about 30%
1 Not overcoming sub-criteria requirement, successful probability about 10%
Table 5. Grading different strategy scores in weakness and threat indexes
The five competitive strategies, OS-1, OS-2, OW-1, TS-1 and TW-1, by means of the highest
rating were regarded as the best competitive strategies, with the rest being ranked
accordingly. The competitive strategies will earn the average scores of questionnaires within
Table 4 and Table 5 by TF. The average of collected scores is listed in the columns 5-9 of
Table 6.
3.5 Step 5: total weighted scores of competitive strategies
This step requires the TF to assess the performance of all the competitive strategies within the
twelve sub-criteria of SWOT identified as important for competitive strategies rating. Simple
score sheets were provided to assist the manager to record the scores for each strategy on each
of the twelve sub-criteria. An example of this strategy is shown in Table 6. In the first row of
Table 6, the number 0.123 is equal to the product of the Strength criterion score 0.264
multiply with the S1 given value of 0.465. Moreover, the same method is applied to obtain

293
other results. Once the weights for sub-criteria have been determined, it is relatively easy to
calculate the resulting competitive strategies rating scores.
Mathematically, the rating is equivalent to the sum of the product of each sub-criterion
weight and the competitive strategy performance score. The rating value of competitive
strategies is obtained by summing the products of the respective elements. The competitive
strategies rating value for strategy OS-1 is obtained by summing up the products of the
respective elements in columns 4 and 5 for each row; given in the final column 10, the over
all total weighted scores of the row is 6.859. The rating method used in strategy OS-1, can
be used to find the total scores of the other four strategies stated in columns 11-14 of Table 6.
The rating value for each competitive strategy is obtained by summing the products of the
respective elements in the matrix; given in the final score, the values of over all competitive
strategies of OS-1, OS-2, OW-1, TS-1 and TW-1 respectively is, 6.859, 8.357, 7.532, 7.298 and 8.274
stated within the last row of Table 6. This gave a rating score for each competitive strategy,
whereas the higher the rating, the better the overall performance for competitive strategy.
3.6 Step 6: assessment of competitive strategies
In the last row of Table 6, the rating value for each strategy is obtained; the final score and
the ranking of competitive strategies for OS-2, TW-1, OW-1, TS-1 and OS-1 is first, second,
third, fourth and fifth respectively. Even though the score of OS-2 is only higher by 0.083
than TW-1 and the score of OW-1 is higher by 0.234 than TS-1, however for both of the
competitive strategies, the difference of scores will definitely change the overall final rank.
These results will be regarded as sensitivity analysis for five competitive strategies.

Criteria
(A)
Sub-criteria
(B)
Weights
(C= AB)
Grade Strategies Scores

Weighted Strategies Scores
OS-1 OS-2 OW-1 TS-1 TW-1 OS-1 OS-2 OW-1 TS-1 TW-1
Strengths S1 0.465 0.123 6.833 8.889 8.056 6.944 8.722 0.839 1.091 0.989 0.853 1.071
0.264 S2 0.227 0.060 6.944 8.944 7.611 7.278 8.500 0.416 0.536 0.456 0.436 0.509
S3 0.308 0.081 7.056 8.833 7.556 8.611 8.611 0.574 0.718 0.614 0.700 0.700

Opportunities O1 0.495 0.148 6.833 7.778 7.389 7.278 8.167 1.011 1.151 1.094 1.077 1.209
0.299 O2 0.258 0.077 6.944 8.000 7.611 7.389 8.000 0.536 0.617 0.587 0.570 0.617
O3 0.247 0.074 6.778 8.111 7.778 7.500 7.944 0.501 0.599 0.574 0.554 0.587

Weaknesses W1 0.439 0.076 6.611 7.778 7.222 6.944 7.833 0.505 0.594 0.552 0.530 0.598
0.174 W2 0.258 0.045 6.500 7.833 7.278 7.056 7.778 0.292 0.352 0.327 0.317 0.349
W3 0.303 0.053 6.667 7.944 7.500 7.278 7.722 0.351 0.419 0.395 0.384 0.407

Threats T1 0.304 0.080 7.056 8.611 7.278 7.000 8.444 0.564 0.688 0.582 0.560 0.675
0.263 T2 0.336 0.088 7.111 8.722 7.556 7.167 8.389 0.628 0.771 0.668 0.633 0.741
T3 0.360 0.095 6.778 8.667 7.333 7.222 8.556 0.642 0.821 0.694 0.684 0.810
Total Weighted Scores 6.859 8.357 7.532 7.298 8.274
Table 6. The SWOT analysis of different strategies
4. Discussion
First of all, considering that the strategy OS-1 has the lowest score within the strategy
analysis, most of the SMEs supposed that this strategy is quite acceptable even though there


294
are still have some doubts present, especially on whether or not by obtaining the EMS
related international standard authentication, such as ISO14000, it will certainly create a
high value-added market. From a present market condition which is quite unfeasible to
reflect the practical demand, frequently as a final result it is invested in fund or
modification. Even though most of the customers are quite optimistic and agreed to this way
of doing, however when everything is fully involved within EMS in the future, it will
certainly has some affect on its capital or product selling price. Which means that at the
present moment, the demand on this particular product is lacking, furthermore, it might
resulted in the incapability to agree on these certain analysis by some SMEs.
Moreover, from the strategy analysis OW-1and TS-1 point of view, direct changes in
manufacture preferences to create products of high environmental requirement standard
has a bigger risk toward the SMEs in term of direct investment. Generally, average
companies do not have certain investment planning until it has reached a deal, order
placement or customers promise in advance. Additionally, an increasingly strict
government or industry environmental in carrying out this phase is facing difficulty, where
presently the government mostly is using counseling method or fund assistance to
encourage and urge the industry to increase its EMS ability in order to reach the low price
product strategy and high level of product diversification.
Lastly, the strategy OS-2 imposes a similar way of thinking with strategy TW-1. Taiwanese
SMEs apperceive the significance of EMS and also recognize the importance to survive
within the diversified competing market environment, whereas they need to build up its
environmental management that has to suit the EMS specification and attention. However,
the investment within environmental protection for its resources and facilities requires a
great amount of expenditures. Under this major investment, if the expected outcomes are
unpredictable, therefore the willingness on investing within the environmental management
will suffer an enormous drawback. These SMEs certainly would hope that government will
work together with country resources, providing some assistance in procuring EMS needed
facilities and equipments or even any related training within the environmental
management scope, moreover guidance or counselling in obtaining different kinds of ISO
authentic certificate will also be valuable resource.
Obviously, most people are familiar with the conflicts between environmental protection
and economic development. Those who are convinced of the consequences of global
warming will remain convinced, while those suspicious will remain suspicious. After all,
economic development means bread, while the mankind cannot immediately appreciate the
deep implications of its damage to the great nature. Therefore, politicians should be aware
of the environmental implications of legal provisions and regulations. Likewise, the
industry authorities, when developing new products, should consider the intangible social
cost of pollution as a part of the overall cost and deal with the issue of pollution as a part of
life cycle management, so that such considerations and practices will benefit our earth. In
EMS, this will further our understanding of the potential poisonous substances to be
produced in production, deployment and replacement stages, and will help us minimize
pollution and thus contribute to environmental protection.
5. Conclusions
With the continuing development of human civilization and technology, the life cycle of any
products, from production, consumption to final waste, it is involving more and more
external adverse factors which bring about direct or indirect impact on the environment.

295
Economists said that we should stop aggravation of global warming now; and there is only
one earth; therefore, be environmentally friendly.
Lastly, the competitive strategies OS-2 and TW-1 will be provided to Taiwanese SME
department and industry union. The main contributions of this study are as follows:
1. The selection procedure of competitive strategies in SWOT can assist the audience to
think in a very comprehensive and detailed manner, while allowing them to categorize
various issues.
2. In this field, many researchers have sought to improve the different capabilities of
quantitative SWOT, such as AHP, ANP or fully rank decision-making units. In this case,
the vote-ranking methodology incorporated with SWOT is applied and as a result, it
became the easiest and most convenient method compared to others.
The vote-ranking is presented as an approach to the problem of ranking candidates in a
preferential election. The future researches had suggested that the cross-evaluation method
is better off to be applied to assess candidates through peer-group, whereas one can attain a
more balanced view of the weight-setting. The cross evaluation can be used to overcome the
problem of maverick decision-makers. The proposed methodology can be utilized to issues
of SWOT, such as AHP or ANP within this study.
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15
Implementation of ISO 14000 in Luggage
Manufacturing Industry: A Case Study
S. B. Jaju
G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagpur
India
1. Introduction
Definitions of EMS as provided by three separate documents on environmental
management systems are as given below
ISO 14001: "the organizational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes
and resources for implementing and maintaining environmental management"
BS 7750: "the organizational structure, responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources
for implementing environmental management"
Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS): "that part of the overall management system
which includes the organizational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures,
processes and resources for determining and implementing the environmental policy"
2. Development of the ISO 14000 series
The ISO 14000 family includes the ISO 14001 standard, which represents the set of standards
used by various types of organizations for designing and implementing an effective
environmental management system. The major objective of the ISO 14000 series of norms is
"to promote more effective and efficient environmental management in organizations and to
provide useful and usable tools - ones that are cost effective, system-based, and flexible and
reflect the best organizations and the best organizational practices available for gathering,
interpreting and communicating environmentally relevant information".
Unlike previous environmental regulations, which began with command and control
approaches, later replaced with ones based on market mechanisms, ISO 14000 was based on
a voluntary approach to environmental regulation. The series includes the ISO 14001
standard, which provides guidelines for the establishment or improvement of an EMS. The
standard shares many common traits with its predecessor ISO 9000, the international
standard of quality management, which served as a model for its internal structure and both
can be implemented side by side. As with ISO 9000, ISO 14000 acts both as an internal
management tool and as a way of demonstrating a companys environmental commitment
to its customers and clients.
Prior to the development of the ISO 14000 series, organizations voluntarily constructed their
own EMS systems, but this made comparisons of environmental effects between companies
difficult and therefore the universal ISO 14000 series was developed. An EMS is defined by


298
ISO as: part of the overall management system, that includes organisational structure,
planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for
developing, implementing, achieving and maintaining the environmental policy.
3. Driving forces
Environmental concerns
For a number of years preceding the introduction of a formal EMS, there was a genuine
concern about its various environmental impacts. Some typical examples of impacts are:
energy and resource usage (electricity, gas , water)
raw material usage (paper, plates, inks, packaging, chemicals, film)
general waste (domestic)
recyclable waste (paper, timber, aluminum, silver, plastics)
hazardous waste (chemical wastes, liquid effluent, air emissions)
nuisances (noise, litter, dust, odors)
contracted activities (transport, subcontracted printing work)
product end use and disposal
Legal obligations
Over recent years, there have been considerable changes in environmental legislation. Every
organisation wants to address its legal obligations, such as compliance with effluent
discharge license parameters, or local authority planning requirements. Integrated Pollution
Control licensing, for instance, will eventually oblige most industries to comply with stricter
industry guidelines on pollution control, with the threat of heavy financial penalties
resulting from non-compliance.
Customer pressure
Lot of pressure is from customer end that is the basic aim of any organisation. Ultimately
customer should have faith in the industry that the said industry is having compliance for
environmental parameters.
4. Basic principles and methodology
The fundamental principle and overall goal of the ISO 14001 standard, is the concept of
continual improvement. ISO 14001 is based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology,
grouped into five phases that relate to Plan-Do-Check-Act; Environmental Policy, Planning,
Implementation & Operation, Checking & Corrective Action and lastly Management
Review.
Plan establish objectives and processes required
Prior to implementing ISO 14001, an initial review or gap analysis of the organisations
processes and products is recommended, to assist in identifying all elements of the current
operation and if possible future operations, that may interact with the environment, termed
environmental aspects. Environmental aspects can include both direct, such as those used
during manufacturing and indirect, such as raw materials (Martin 1998). This review assists
the organisation in establishing their environmental objectives, goals and targets, which
should ideally be measurable; helps with the development of control and management
Implementation of ISO 14000 in
Luggage Manufacturing Industry: A Case Study

299
procedures and processes and serves to highlight any relevant legal requirements, which
can then be built into the policy.
Do implement the processes
During this stage the organisation identifies the resources required and works out those
members of the organisation responsible for the EMS implementation and control. This
includes documentation of all procedures and processes; including operational and
documentation control, the establishment of emergency procedures and responses, and the
education of employees, to ensure they can competently implement the necessary processes
and record results. Communication and participation across all levels of the organisation,
especially top management is a vital part of the implementation phase, with the
effectiveness of the EMS being dependant on active involvement from all employees.
Check measure and monitor the processes and report results
During the check stage, performance is monitored and periodically measured to ensure that
the organisations environmental targets and objectives are being met (Martin 1998). In
addition, internal audits are regularly conducted to ascertain whether the EMS itself is being
implemented properly and whether the processes and procedures are being adequately
maintained and monitored.
Act take action to improve performance of EMS based on results
After the checking stage, a regular planned management review is conducted to ensure that
the objectives of the EMS are being met, the extent to which they are being met, that
communications are being appropriately managed and to evaluate changing circumstances,
such as legal requirements, in order to make recommendations for further improvement of
the system. These recommendations are then fed back into the planning stage to be
implemented into the EMS moving forward.
5. Role of EMS
1. An assessment of the existing practices and situation of an organization.
2. A register of all environmental effects associated with the company's activities,
established through an initial environmental review.
3. A list of all legislation relevant and applicable to the environmental aspects of the
activities, products and services of the organization.
4. Development of a corporate environmental policy and environmental management
plan
5. The setting of environmental performance objectives and targets for both current and
future activities.
6. Development of environmental performance evaluation procedures.
7. Establishment of an effective environmental training program for all employees within
the organization, which will raise awareness, enhance skills for dealing with
environmental issues and stress compliance with relevant legislation.
8. Implementation of a system, which reliably manages the performance of the
organization, for both current and future activities.
9. Documentation of the system communicated to all employees and distributed to all
interested parties, especially to the public.
10. Establishment of non-conformance and corrective and preventive action procedures.


300
11. Regular checking, reviewing and auditing of company practices and management
commitment to reflect changing conditions with a focus on continual improvement.
6. Benefits of EMS implementation
6.1 Natural
1. Clean Air, Water, Soil.
2. Prevention and/or significant reduction of pollution and waste Generation.
3. Improved health and safety of interested parties.
4. Reduction in the use of non-renewable resources.
5. Improved conservation and efficient use of natural resources.
6.2 Corporate
1. Reduced financial costs through reduction in consumption of resources and through
waste minimization.
2. Reduction and/or avoidance of potential emergency situations.
3. Avoidance of incidence of non-compliance with legislation and reduction in fines and
cleanup costs.
4. Reduction in the cost of gaining capital, financial backing, insurance and valuation by
becoming an "environmentally friendly" organization.
5. Improved marketing advantage as a "green" operation.
6. Increased staff morale and occupational safety and health standards.
7. Improved customer, client and community relations.
8. Increased documentation, communication and feedback of environmental policies and
initiatives.
7. Major requirements of ISO 14000
Following are some of the requirements of ISO 14000:
1. Environmental protection as one of the highest corporate priorities with clear
assignment of responsibilities and accountabilities to all employees.
2. Compliance with all environmental laws and regulations applicable to the company's
activities, products and services.
3. Ongoing communications on environmental commitment and performance with all
shareholders.
4. Strategic planning that sets forth environmental performance objectives and targets,
implemented through a disciplined management process.
5. Periodic performance measurement (as well as systems audits and management
reviews) to achieve continual improvement wherever possible.
6. Full integration with health and safety, quality, finance, business planning and other
essential management processes.
7. Focus on EMS and looks for attributes that would sustain sound environmental
decision making and performance.
8. Top management commitment.
9. Third-party registration, through ISO 14001, or self-declaration for companies that meet
the ISO 14000 standards. ISO 14001 includes discrete elements of environmental
aspects, legal requirements, objectives and targets, environmental management
program, communications, and emergency preparedness and response.

301
8. Stage by stage implementation of ISO 14001
First stage: commitment and policy
i. Environmental policy
Second stage: Planning
i. Environmental aspects
ii. Legal and other requirements
iii. Objectives and targets
iv. Environmental management program
Third stage: Implementation
i. Structure and responsibility
ii. Training, awareness and competence
iii. Communication
iv. Environmental documentation
v. Document control
Fourth stage: Operational control measurement and evaluation
i. Monitoring and measurement
ii. Non-conformance and corrective and preventive action
iii. Records
iv. Environmental management system audit
Fifth stage: Review and improvement
i. Management review
9. Benefits of developing ISO 14000 series
1. Having a single, global set of environmental management system guidance standards.
2. The development of a common, global approach to voluntary and self-directed
environmental management.
3. Enhancement of the ability to measure levels of sustainability and environmental
performance through auditing methods.
4. Harmonization of non-uniform standards for a range of environmental impact issues.
10. Implelementation OF ISO 14000 in luggage manufacturing industry:
The study is done for Canteen and Tools and Mould repairing.
CANTEEN: Firstly the various input to canteen are identified viz. Vegetables, spices, oil,
food grains, water, LPG gas, Electricity. Output of the canteen is Food products.
The various effects of the canteen on the environment as a whole are identified
1. Used water discharged to drainage.
2. Fire in L. P. G. (Emergency).
3. Solid waste non biodegradable (Carboys, drums, containers, empty milk bags).
4. Solid waste biodegradable (spent food and vegetables).
5. Fume generation.
6. Heat loss to atmosphere.


302
7. Noise generation.
The complete canteen as process showing input and output as well its effects on
environment are tabulated in aspect register as shown in Table I.
Each aspect is studied carefully for the following category of aspects:
1. Normal aspects: Effects of aspects are negligible.
2. Abnormal Aspects: Severe effect on environment.
3. Emergency Aspects: Nature of Aspect is emergency. Emergency prepared plan has to
be there. Proper training to be given to the people for handling the emergency
situations. They should be equipped with safety devices to tackle the emergency. For
example: Suppose if there is a fire hazard. Whether the fire fighting equipment is there
or not. If it is there then whether the people are trained to operate it and so on.
Emergency preparedness plan for every department, which will consist of the following few
points:
1. Fire equipments are available or not that too in proper place.
2. Are the people trained to handle the situations?
3. Security people should be trained.
4. First aid training is to be given to all.
5. Fire equipments layout, number of fire equipments, is to be planned.
6. Emergency siren should start immediately after the fire.
7. All people should assemble at one place.
Factor rating is applied to each aspect depending on various factors. The various ratings
used are
A: Occurrence

Continuous (8hours & above)/day 5
Less than 8 hours/day 4
Less than 8 hours/week 3
Less than 8 hours/month 2
Less than 8 hours/year 1
C: Significance of Impact

Causing death to human being on site/ offsite, damage
to flora fauna, air, water, land (offsite).
5
Damage to flora fauna, air, water, land or
hospitilisation to human being on site.
4
Damage to flora fauna, air, water, land or first aid to
human being on shop
3
Damage to flora fauna, air, water, land and or first aid
to human being on shop
2
Negligible impact 1

303
D: Controls

Controls absent 5
Controls present 4
Controls present but needs human intervention 3
Controls present no human intervention 2
Closed loop control 1
E: Frequency of Detection

Once in a year & above 5
Once in six months 4
Once in one to three months 3
Once in a week 2
Once in a day 1
F: Category of waste

Hazardous waste 5
Non-hazardous waste (High) 4
Non-hazardous waste (Low) 3
100% recycled in house or recycled from outside party
for inside use
2
Negligible waste generation 1

The factor rating of impacts for each aspect is shown in Table II.
After categorisation of aspects, their impact has to be ascertained. Then whether they can be
measured or not. If measured, what is the present status? Then the frequency of occurrence
is to be known. Further what is the treatment given to nullify the bad effects of aspects on
environment? All these analysis is depicted in Table III.
After rating and critical analysis of each aspect one should have the action plan for the
aspect, which is affecting severely on environment. Meetings should be conducted to take
reviews on the improvement after the implementation of action plan. The improved status
to be maintained and periodic review are done to ascertain.
In the similar way study is carried out for process of TOOL AND MOULD REPAIR and the
reports are shown in Table IV, V and VI.
11. Conclusion
With the implementation of EMS, communications concerning environmental practices were
streamlined. It was possible to identify areas where utility savings existed. EMS defined
roles and responsibilities towards each aspect of the process and their impacts on the
environment. A systematic approach is understood to handle environmental issues in place
and the overall plant cost savings coming from tracking resources and accounting for them.
The EMS also provides the more intangible benefit of employee taking pride of working in
the plant that is a good environmental neighbour.


304

Table No. I
LUGGAGE INDUSTRIES LTD.
ASPECT REGISTER
DOC No. : ASP 27
SHEET No. : 1 of 3
Dept. : Pers & Admn
ISSUE DATE : 1-08-2003
REV No. : 00
Process :- Canteen REV. DATE : 00

Prepared by : Approved By :

CANTEEN
Noise Generation Heat loss to atmosphere Fume Generation
Food products
Solid waste biodegradable
(spent food and Vegetable)
Solid waste non biodegradable
(carboys, drums, containers, empty milk bags)
Fire in L.P.G. (Emergency)
Used water discharged to drainage
Vegetables, spices,
Electricity
Water Consumption
L.P.G. Gas

305

Table No. II
LUGGAGE
INDUSTRIES LTD.
ASPECT REGISTER
DOC No. : ASP 27
SHEET No. : 3 of 3
Dept. : Pers & Admn
REV No. : 00
Sr.
No.
ASPECT
FACTOR RATING TOTAL
RATING
IS IT
SIGNIFICANT A B C D E F
NORMAL ASPECTS

01
Fume
Generation
5 1 1 2 5 1 15 No
02 Heat loss 5 1 1 2 5 1 15 No
03
Noise
generation
-- -- -- -- -- S T A T U T O R Y -- -- -- -- -- YES
04
Discharge of
used water
5 3 1 3 3 3 18 YES
05
Solid waste
biodegradable
spent food
vegetable
5 3 1 3 3 3 18 YES
06
Solid waste
non
biodegradable
corboys drums
containers etc.
2 1 1 3 3 3 13 No
ABNORMAL ASPECTS

07 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil No
EMERGENCY ASPECTS

08
Fire in L.P.G.
Storage area
YES



306

Table No. III
ASPECT REGISTER
DOC No. : ASP 27
SHEET No. : 2 of 3
Dept. : Pers & Admn
REV No. : 00
Sr.
No.
Aspect Impact Measur.
Indicator
Present
status
Frequency of Present
treatment
Type of
control
Remarks
reference Occur Meas
NORMAL ASPECTS
01 Fume
generation
Air Pollution Not
measured
Not
measured
Cont. Not
Measured
Nil Nil Nil
02 Heat
loss
Ambient
warming
Deg.
Celsius
Not
measurable
Cont. Not
measurable
Nil Nil Nil
03 Noise
generation
Noise
pollution
dB 72 dB Cont. Negligible Nil Statutory Noise level
report
04 Solid waste
biodegradable
spent food
and vegetable
Land
Contamination
Kgs/Day 45 50 kgs Cont. Once in a
day
Disposed
to animal
feeder
Self EMP-P&A01
05 Discharge of
used water to
drainage
Water
pollution
K Ltrs. Not
measured
Daily Not
measured
Disposed
to sewage
Self EMP-P&A02
06 Solid waste
non-
biodegradable
carboys,
drums,
containers
Land
contamination
Nos./month 18 Tins
20 Gunny
bags
900 milk
bags
Cont. Once in a
month
Disposed
to
recyclers
Self Nil
ABNORMAL ASPECTS
07 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil
EMERGENCY ASPECTS
08 Fire in L.P.G.
storage area
Damage to
flora fauna, air,
land, human
being & assets
- No incident
so far
- - - - Emergency
preparedness
& response
plan


307

Table No. IV
LUGGAGE INDUSTRIES LTD
ASPECT REGISTER
DOC No. : ASP 13
SHEET No. : 1 of 3
Dept. : Tool Room ISSUE DATE : 1-08-2003
REV No. : 01
Process :- Tool / Mould Repairing REV. DATE : 18/01/2004


TOOLS & MOULD REPAIRING
Heat loss to atmosphere
Dust generation
Noise generation
Finished /
Semifinished Tools & Moulds
Chips generation
Coolant / Oil leakage
Cotton waste
M.S. Plate, Steel round,
Copper plate / round,
Graphite blocks, Water for
machine coolant, machine
oil


308

Table No. V
LUGGAGE INDUSTRIES
LTD
ASPECT REGISTER
DOC No. : ASP 13
SHEET No. : 3 of 3
Dept. : Tool Room
REV No. : 01
Process :- Tool/ Mould
Repairing
REV. DATE : 18/01/2004
Sr. No. ASPECT
FACTOR RATING TOTAL
RATING
IS IT
SIGNIFICANT A B C D E F
NORMAL ASPECTS

01 Noise generation -- -- -- -- -- S T A T U T O R Y -- -- -- -- -- YES
02
Heat loss to
atmosphere
5 1 1 3 5 1 16 NO
03 Dust generation 3 1 1 5 5 1 16 NO
04
Cotton waste
generation
5 1 1 3 3 3 16 NO
05 Metal scrap 5 1 1 3 3 1 14 NO
06 Spent coolant -- -- -- -- -- S T A T U T O R Y -- -- -- -- -- YES
ABNORMAL ASPECTS

07 Oil leakage -- -- -- -- -- S T A T U T O R Y -- -- -- -- -- YES
EMERGENCY ASPECTS

08 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil nil


309

Table No. VI
ASPECT REGISTER
DOC No. : ASP 13
SHEET No. : 2 of 3
Dept. : Tool Room
REV No. : 01
Process :- Tool / Mould
Repairing
REV. DATE : 18/01/2004
Sr.
No.
Aspect Impact
Measur.
Indicator
Present
status
Frequency of Present
treatment
Type of
control
Remarks
reference Occur Meas
NORMAL ASPECTS
01
Noise
generation
Noise
pollution
dB 80 Cont.
Once in 6
months
Nil Statutory
Measurement
of noise level
report
02
Dust
generation
(By
Grinding)
Air
Pollution
Mg./Nm
3
Negligible Cont.
Not
measured
Nil Nil Nil
03
Heat loss to
atmosphere
Ambient
warming
Cent.
Max. 5C
above
ambient
te perature
Cont.
Not
Measured
Nil Nil Nil
04
Cotton
waste
generation
Land
Contamination
Kgs
Approx. 60
Kgs/Month
Cont. Monthly
Disposed to
recyclers
Nil
Monthly issue
from store
05
Metal
scrap
Land
Contamination
Kgs.
Appr x. 30
Kgs/Month
Cont. Monthly
Disposed to
recyclers
Nil Scrap ticket
06
Spent
coolant
Water
pollution
Ltrs.
Approx. 30
Ltr./Month
Cont. Monthly
Effluent
treatment
plant
Statutory
Register for
spent coolant
to powder
coating
ABNORMAL ASPECTS
07 Oil leakage
Land
Contamination
Ltrs. Negligible Rare
Not
Measured
Secondary
containment
Statutory Nil
EMERGENCY ASPECTS
08 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil nil


310
12. References
[1] Ambika Zutshi and Amrik S. Sohal, (2000), Environmental management systems auditing:
auditors experiences in Australia, Int. J. Environment and Sustainable Development,
Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 73-87.
[2] Subhash Babu, A., Madhu, K. and Sahani, N. (1998), Positioning ISO 14000 standards an
investigative study covering selected Indian Industries, Proc. ISME Conference, Dec
1998, IIT Delhi, pp 286-291.
[3] Fabio Orecchini, (2000), The ISO 14001 certification of a machine process, Journal of Cleaner
Production, Vol. 8, Issue 1, February 2000, pp 61-68.
[4] Martin, R 1998, ISO 14001 Guidance Manual, National Centre for environmental
decision-making research: Technical report, viewed 23 August 2010
[5] Company manual.
Part 3
Technical Aspects of
Environmental Management
16
The Statistical Distributions of Industrial
Wastes: an Analysis of the Japanese
Establishment Linked Input-output Data
Hitoshi Hayami
1
and Masao Nakamura
2

1
Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University
2
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
1
Japan
2
Canada
1. Introduction
Both waste management policies and the economic theories underlying them model the
behaviour of a representative company or establishment using. For example, toxic wastes
such as dioxin are regulated by the mean emission volume standard measured per Nm
3
,
where the mean is estimated using data. As we will show, most establishments (particularly
combustion plants) satisfy the required emission standard, while only a few exceed the
regulation limit and must be checked by the authorities until regulation standards are met.
But regulators must monitor all establishments incurring unnecessary costs.
Fullerton and Kinnaman 1995, among other theoretical contributions, show that taxing
downstream establishments can achieve the second best policy. (See also Walls & Palmer
1998, who discuss more general market conditions.) Recent research shows that regulating
downstream establishments promotes research and development by firms in upstream
stages of a supply chain under certain market conditions (Calcott & Walls, 2000; Greaker &
Rosendahl, 2006). These theoretical implications are important for policy making about how
to design a tax system, but these theories also assume a typical producer and the regulation
standard with respect to their mean emissions of waste materials. In practice, however,
even though the coefficients of variation for the distributions of heavy metals in fly ash
found in municipal solid waste are known to reach 50% (Nakamura et al., 1997), little
statistical evidence in the published literature exists on the variation in industrial
establishments waste generation and reuse-recycling per unit production, which is basic
information required for economic and ecological design and general policy decisions.
In this paper we fill this gap in the literature and show the distributions of generation rates
for various types of wastes and by-products in the production processes of establishments in
Japanese manufacturing industries. We use the METI survey data (Survey on the Industrial
Waste and By-Products, Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 2005 and 2006).
This survey gives the amounts of 37 types of industrial wastes generated for four different
levels of the production processes (generation, intermediate reduction, reuse-recycle, and
disposal to landfill) at 5048 establishments.
1

1
See the Clean Japan Center (2005 and 2006) for details of this survey data.


314
We have linked the METI survey data with the Japanese Input-Output (I-O) table. Using this
linked data and the data on energy/CO
2
requirements in industrial waste treatment, we are
able to calculate the induced amounts of industrial wastes.
2
For example, waste oil and
waste plastic are generated in large quantities at 3080 and 3694 establishments, respectively.
Estimated amounts of waste oil and waste plastic generated range, respectively, between 0
and 2.50 and between 0 and 2.11 (metric) tonnes per million yen of output. On the other
hand, waste ferroalloy slag is produced at only 11 establishments, and its quantity ranges
from 5.8 to 64.6 tonnes per million yen of output. We estimate that production of every car
with a 2000cc engine or its equivalent induces, for example, 0.051 tonnes of all types of
wastes combined in hot rolling processes and 0.677 tonnes of all types of wastes combined
in iron steel making in upstream production activities. We estimate that a 2000cc equivalent
automobile production generates 1.49 tonnes of all types of wastes combined. We believe
that these averages and the distributions for waste generation rates along a production
supply chain provide (currently unused) useful information for policy makers for further
reductions in the generation of waste materials.
2. Using the input-output analysis for evaluating waste management policies
2.1 Economic input-output-LCA: the theoretical background
The input-output analysis is a powerful tool to evaluate environmental impacts within an
interdependent economic system (Leontief 1970, Baumol and Wolff 1994). When production
of a final product requires intermediate goods (e.g. parts), inter-industry effects along a
supply chain generate various wastes in stages of the life cycle of the final product.
The input-output (I-O) table is like a recipe of all economic activities for a national economy.
Each column describes all the inputs used for an immediate economic activity, such as
producing an automobile, supplying services such as education. It covers all economic
activities and I-O relations are described in monetary terms. Recently publicly available I-O
tables have been applied to the Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA)
(Hendrickson et al., 2006; Suh, 2010). Eiolca.net summarizes limitations of EIO-LCA
compared to Process-Based LCA.
One such limitation that EIO-LCA is difficult to apply to an open economy is overcome by
using the methods given by us (Hayami & Nakamura, 2007). The most apparent
disadvantage of EIO-LCA is that product assessments contain aggregate data containing
uncertainty as Eiolca.net describes. Assume there are n commodities (including services) in
an economy, each of which is an input for production of other commodities. A typical
producer k produces output x
j
(k)
of j-th commodity, which requires as inputs X
ij
(k)
, where
i=1,2,...,n. Governments provide the official I-O table with aggregate figures for all
producers of j-th commodity x
j
=
k=1
mj
x
i
(k)
, where m
j
is the number of producers of the j-th
commodity. The same aggregation procedure is applied to inputs as follows: X
ij
=
k=1
mj

X
ij
(k)
. EIO-LCA assumes that matrix of input coefficients A
ij
defined below is stable and
represents a typical producers activity.

( ) ( )
1 1
m m
k k
i j i j j i j j
k k
j j
A X x X x
= =
= =

, 1, 2, , i j n = (1)

2
Induced amounts of output mean the amounts of output generated by upper (supplier) stages of a
production supply chain in response to the production activities undertaken at downstream
establishments.
The Statistical Distributions of Industrial Wastes:
an Analysis of theJapanese Establishment Linked Input-output Data

315
But these input coefficients A
ij
are different from producer ks input coefficients A
ij

( ) ( ) ( ) k k k
i j i j j
A X x =

, 1, 2, , i j n = and 1, 2, ,
j
k m = (2)
Similarly, by applying EIO-LCA to waste management with the same assumptions made
above, we get the amount of waste i generated in producing output x
j
(we consider 37 waste
materials as defined below):

( ) ( )
1 1
m m
k k
i j i j j i j j
k k
j j
W Waste x W x
= =
= =

1, 2, , 37 i = 1, 2, , j n = (3)
Similarly, producer (k) generates i-th waste producing the j-th product:
( ) ( ) ( ) k k k
i j i j j
W Waste x =

1, 2, , 37 i = , 1, 2, , j n = and 1, 2, ,
j
k m = (4)
Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) conducts an annual survey that
reports the amounts of 37 types of wastes observed in 4 stages: amounts generated by final
production, W
ij
(k)
; amounts of reduction in intermediate steps of production, V
ij
(k)
; amounts
recycled, U
ij
(k)
; and amounts sent for landfill, T
ij
(k)
.
3
The most important assumption in our I-
O analysis is that input coefficients and waste coefficient per output remain constant over
time. If we can show empirically that these coefficients have narrow bell shape
distributions, then the relative stability of these coefficients follows. In this paper, we will
show using our data how the coefficients of waste generation W
ij
(k)
distribute.
Using input coefficients, A
ij
, we can calculate the demand for goods made in stages of
upstream sectors of a supply chain. Unit production of j-th sector output induces
production of i-th sector whose output is given by A
ij
. Similarly production of A
ij
induces
production of A
ki
A
ij
in k-th sector. Repeating this, we can obtain output induced for any
stage in upstream portions of a supply chain. Formally, multiplication of the I-O coefficients
matrix A from left gives us induced output for all relevant goods and services in the
immediate upstream stage of a supply chain.

2
, , , f Af A f (5)
where f is a vector of demands for final goods and services
By multiplying production output for final production (downstream) stage and subsequent
upstream stages (f, Af, ...) by waste generation matrix W, we obtain the amounts of waste
generated in the corresponding stages of a supply chain: Wf, WAf, WA
2
f, ....
2.2 Construction of a linked data set
We briefly describe the procedure we used to link the Wastes and By-products Survey
(WBS) data to the I-O table. We first note that the definition of a sector is different between
the two data sets. WBS is based on the Japan Standard Industry Classification (JSIC) system,

3
V
ij
(k)
is defined as: V
ij
(k)
=Intermediate Reduction/Waste Generated (Waste
ij
(k)
); and U
ij
(k)
and T
ij
(k)
are similarly
defined. The denominator is the amount of waste generated, rather than production output. The waste
generated is measured at the gate of an industrial process. Generated wastes are reduced (sludge
dewatering), recycled/reused, and finally disposed of (mainly by landfill). Waste reduction is often
undertaken in production processes, for example, for reducing the failure rate (or increasing yields) for
the processes.


316
but the I-O table uses its own more detailed classification system so that the stability of I-O
coefficients over time is preserved. JSIC codes are divided into one or more of 401 I-O
sectors, using the allocation matrix given in the appendix tables of the I-O table. This
allocation method depends on the sales figures reported for different products of each
establishment in WBS. One difficulty we encountered was for the steel industry sector. The
steel industry in the I-O table is divided into 13 sectors and two related sectors (coal
products and self power generation). Many of these I-O sectors belong to a single
establishment in WBS because of their continuous casting production, and there are no sales
figures reported on WBS for transactions for these I-O sector goods since these transactions
occur within the same establishment. To properly allocate output of steel industry
establishments in WBS among relevant I-O sectors, we have collected needed information
by interviewing the Japan Iron and Steel Federation and the Nippon Slag Association. We
then modified the allocation table to reflect our information.
Secondly, in order to obtain the total amounts of industrial wastes in Japan, we multiplied
the amounts derived from WBS by the proportionality constant since WBS is a survey and
does not cover all Japanese establishments. The proportionality constant for each sector was
obtained by comparing sales figures for the sector from the Census of Manufacturers data
and WBS. Sectors of these two data sets are comparable since both use the JSIC system to
define their sectors.
Table 1 lists 37 types of industrial wastes discussed in this paper. Industrial wastes in Japan
are classified into (1)37 types given in Table 1 and (2)especially regulated industrial wastes.
Special industrial wastes in the latter category (2) are highly hazardous and include material
contaminated with PCB, asbestos, strong acid with pH less than 2, strong alkali with pH
higher than 12.5, highly inflammable waste oil and infectious wastes. WBS excludes wastes
in category (2) that need to be treated separately. Industrial wastes other than those in
category (2) include certain toxic substances (e.g. heavy metals, Pb, Cd) that must be treated
properly.
For each establishment and each type of waste, the following material balance equation
must hold:

( ) ( ) ( ) k k k
i j i j j
Waste W x = and
( ) ( ) ( )
1
k k k
i j i j i j
V U T = + + i=1,...,37 ; j=1,...,401, and k=1,...,5048 (6)
All wastes are measured by weight in metric tonnes, and output x
j
(k)
is measured in
monetary unit (in 1 million yen).
3. The estimated results
3.1 Distributions of unit waste generation rates
The first objective of this paper is to estimate the statistical distributions of waste generation
rates among establishments.
Table 2 presents descriptive statistics for these waste generation rates, W
ij
(k)
/x
j
(k)
, for waste of
type i for establishment k in sector j. The number of observations (Nobs) denotes the number
of establishment with non-zero production, x
j
(k)
>0. Waste plastics other than synthetic rubber
have the largest number of observations, which means waste plastics are the most common
industrial waste. For all industrial wastes except waste animal-solidified, the sample mean is
larger than the median, and the maximum value is far larger than the sample mean. This
means that the distributions of unit waste generation rates W/x are asymmetric to left, with a
few smaller values occur with very high frequencies and a long tail for large values.

317
JSIC: 0110 Cinders other than coal 0111 Coal cinders
0210
Inorganic sludge other than
polishing sand
0211 Inorganic sludge of polishing sand
022 Organic sludge 0230
Organic-inorganic mixed sludge
other than polishing sand
0231
Organic-inorganic mixed sludge of
polishing sand
031
Waste oil other than chlorinated
solvent waste
032 Waste oil chlorinated solvent waste 040 Used acidic liquid
050 Waste alkali 061
Waste plastics other than synthetic
rubber
062 Waste plastics synthetic rubber 070 Wastepaper
080 Chips and sawdust 090 Waste textile
100 Animal and vegetable remnants 101 Waste animal-solidified
110 Rubber waste 121 Scrap iron
122 Non-ferrous metal scrap 131 Scrap glass
132 Clay, porcelain, ceramic scrap 133 Scrap slab concrete
141 Waste moulding sands 1420
Slag other than steel, ferroalloy, and
copper
1421 Iron-steel slag 1422 Ferroalloy slag
1423 Copper slag 1430 Slag other than aluminum dross
1431 Aluminum dross 150 Demolition debris
160 Animal manure 170 Animal carcasses
1800 Soot and dust other than coal ash 1810 Soot and dust flay ash
190 Processed material for disposal
Table 1. 37 waste materials reported in the Wastes and By-Products Survey (WBS)

Waste Nobs Mean Median Max SD
cinders other than coal 306 0.137 0.002 20.524 1.204
coal cinders 50 0.038 0.003 0.957 0.141
inorganic sludge excl. polishing sand 1815 0.091 0.006 25.744 0.905
inorganic sludge polishing sand 52 0.157 0.003 6.453 0.893
organic sludge 986 0.268 0.007 47.229 2.082
organic and inorganic mixed sludge 776 0.049 0.005 1.583 0.165
mixed sludge polishing sand 18 0.171 0.003 2.829 0.664
waste oil excl. chlorinated solvent waste 3080 0.019 0.002 2.495 0.090
waste oil chlorinated solvent waste 303 0.018 0.001 1.425 0.099
used acidic liquid 1242 0.153 0.002 50.131 1.738
waste alkali 1184 0.045 0.002 2.937 0.192
waste plastics excl. synthetic rubber 3694 0.027 0.005 2.114 0.080
waste plastics synthetic rubber 282 0.038 0.005 0.610 0.071
wastepaper 2612 0.069 0.005 2.631 0.244
chips and sawdust 2089 0.035 0.002 5.796 0.295


318
waste textile 261 0.033 0.001 5.898 0.366
animal and vegetable remnants 443 0.103 0.002 3.109 0.309
waste animal-solidified 2 1.174 1.174 2.230 1.494
lubber waste 61 0.017 0.000 0.280 0.051
scrap iron 3037 0.066 0.008 5.991 0.233
non-ferrous metal scrap 1464 0.017 0.002 0.561 0.050
scrap glass 1492 0.012 0.000 3.612 0.140
clay, porcelain, ceramic scrap 620 0.030 0.001 3.319 0.195
scrap slab concrete 8 0.687 0.008 4.733 1.653
waste moulding sands 214 0.493 0.195 4.326 0.708
slag excl. steel, ferroalloy, and copper 74 0.316 0.052 7.561 0.966
iron-steel slag 111 1.859 1.291 22.222 2.678
ferroalloy slag 11 11.191 3.956 64.592 19.683
copper slag 17 3.479 0.050 23.219 7.228
slag other than aluminum dross 192 0.193 0.038 4.485 0.527
aluminum dross 50 0.144 0.058 1.825 0.277
demolition debris 303 0.077 0.001 19.809 1.139
animal manure 6 0.001 0.000 0.003 0.001
animal carcasses 12 0.003 0.000 0.017 0.006
soot and dust excl. coal ash 434 0.160 0.008 3.462 0.354
soot and dust fly ash 46 0.067 0.032 0.534 0.109
processed material for disposal of
industrial waste
119 0.007 0.001 0.170 0.020
Table 2. Descriptive Statistics for the unit waste generation rate W/x in 2006
Several typical shapes of statistical distributions are shown in Figures 1a and 1b. Figure 1a
shows the distributions for waste moulding sands and iron and steel slag. Iron and steel
slag does not have a large distance between the mean and the median, but it has a large
maximum, 22.22 tonnes per 1 million yen, which is 12 times as large as the mean, 1.859
tonnes per 1 million yen. Standard deviation (SD) is larger than the mean, and the
coefficient of variation is 1.44. Figure 1b shows two of common types of distributions for
W/x for wastepaper and waste plastics, which concentrate around 0. Both have the median
of 0.005 tonnes per 1 million yen of production. But the mean is 0.069 tonnes for wastepaper
and 0.027 for waste plastics, with a maximum, 2.631 for wastepaper, and 2.114 for waste
plastics. Extremely large maximum values may reflect irregular production and inventory
practices at some establishments.
Figure 2 shows that the distributions for recycling rates for inorganic sludge and polishing
sand. Both figures have concentrations around 0 and 1. This means that establishments face
an all or nothing choice. Once a waste material is recycled, the establishment should choose
recycling all wastes. This result follows because of the high initial cost of recycling
equipment and the availability of outsourcing. But outsourcing is not available if the
establishment location is far from the center of the recycling industry. As a result, the final
disposal method (landfill here) is also highly concentrated around 0 and 1, as in Figure 3.
We have tried statistical fitting of these empirical distributions derived here with only a
partial success. First, we tried to use the Gamma distribution to fit observed distributions

319
for unit generation rate, W/x. But only 7 out of 37 distributions for industrial waste have
been found not to be significantly different from the Gamma distribution. An appropriate
theoretical distribution to fit the empirical distributions for recycling ratio, U/W, is the Beta
distribution since recycling rations range between 0 and1. But our test of the goodness of fit
rejected the Beta distribution for all cases.

a)

b)

Fig. 1. a)Typical distributions of waste generation coefficients: Waste Moulding Sands (214
establishments and Iron and Steel Slag (111 establishments), b) Typical distributions of
waste generation coefficients: Wastepaper (2612 establishments), and Waste plastics other
than synthetic rubber (3614 establishments)


320

Fig. 2. Typical distributions of recycling rates: Inorganic sludge other than polishing sand
(1815 establishments), and Wastepaper (2612 establishments)

Fig. 3. Typical distributions of landfill rates: Inorganic sludge other than polishing sand of
1815 establishments (left), and wastepaper of 2612 establishments (right)
Bootstrap resampling can calculate confidence intervals for the unit waste generation rate,
W/x, from estimated empirical distributions. Table 3 shows simulated confidence intervals
and the mean. The empirical distribution of W
ij
(k)
/x
j
(k)
used is based on observations from
WBS 2005 and 2006. We used as re-sampling size 5000 for non-parametric estimation. The
simulated mean uses weighs of output and our results correspond to unit waste generating

321
rate W/x.
4
We find that six out of seven wastes show the same statistical characteristics:
(1)the median is smaller than the mean; and (2)the distributions have a long tail. But iron-
steel slag (193 observations) has a nearly symmetric distribution as shown in Figure 4a.
According to the central limit theorem, the distribution of a sample mean with a finite
variance converges to the normal distribution. But our statistical test of the goodness of fit
does not support gamma or normal distributions. The convergence in distribution to the
normal distribution is not seen for distributions of other wastes either as shown in Figure
4b. The distribution for a positive random variable becomes exponential at the maximum
entropy; in the present case a statistical test rejects the exponential distribution also.

2.50% 5% Median 95% 97.50% Mean
Inorganic sludge 0.0073 0.0089 0.0343 0.2271 0.5347 0.0887
Sludge of polishing sand 0.0055 0.0071 0.0396 1.0490 1.1367 0.1888
Waste plastics 0.0062 0.0074 0.0227 0.0822 0.1100 0.0322
Waste paper 0.0024 0.0029 0.0156 0.4156 0.5044 0.0714
Scrap iron 0.0097 0.0119 0.0431 0.1666 0.2272 0.0623
Scrap glass 0.0001 0.0001 0.0007 0.0292 0.0822 0.0110
Iron-steel slag 1.4132 1.4787 1.9442 2.6046 2.7613 1.9810
Table 3. Simulated confidence intervals and the mean for unit waste generation rate W/x
Results for the distributions of the recycling rate using the same procedure as before are
given in Table 4 and Figures 5a and 5b. Compared to distributions for the waste generation
rates, distributions for the recycling rates are nearly symmetric. And the figures are clearly
different from those given in Figure 2 for population the distributions (histograms) of the
waste generation rate. This difference arises because, in case of distributions for recycling
rates, there is the effect of aggregation of recycling rates. The sample mean is almost the
same value as the sample median in Table 4. We can conclude that, for the distributions for
recycling rates, U/W, for all sectors, observed values are close to both the mean and median
of the simulated value and their confidence intervals are symmetric.
These results on the distributions of unit waste generation rate W/x and recycling rate U/W
imply that the potential problems in policy making from assuming the representative
(average) waste management activity come mostly from the distributions for unit waste
generation rates W/x. The mean assumed in theory does not always reflect the typical
intensity of waste generation. It also means that regulations based on the mean of a
representative establishment does not always give effective regulations to the majority of
establishments. Most of the establishments can clear the regulation standard, because the
standard is based on the mean of the distribution. But as we have shown, the mean does not
capture the essential property of the distributions underlying the waste generation rate.

4
This is because
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
k
k k k
ij
j ij j k k
ij ij k k
k k
j j j j
k
Waste
x Waste x
W W
x x x x
= = =
| || | | |
| | |
| | |
\ .\ . \ .
, generating Wij(k) from the

empirical distribution of Wij(k) and taking the weighted average gives Wij, which the Input-Output
calculation uses.


322

a)

b)
Fig. 4. a) Distributions for unit waste generation rates, W/x, (bootstrapped weighted mean):
Scrap Iron (left) and Iron-Steel Slag (right) b) Distributions for unit waste generation rates,
W/x, (bootstrapped weighted mean): Waste plastics (left) and Wastepaper (right)

2.50% 5% Median 95% 97.50% Mean
Inorganic sludge
0.398 0.414 0.513 0.609 0.626 0.513
Sludge of polishing sand
0.158 0.212 0.513 0.825 0.861 0.513
Waste plastics
0.546 0.552 0.584 0.616 0.622 0.584
Waste paper
0.730 0.741 0.791 0.831 0.837 0.789
Scrap iron
0.894 0.905 0.953 0.974 0.977 0.949
Scrap glass
0.436 0.480 0.677 0.858 0.886 0.679
Iron-steel slag
0.798 0.822 0.920 0.979 0.984 0.913
Table 4. Simulated confidence interval and mean of the recycling rate U/ W

323
Iron-Steel Slag
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
2
0
0

a)
Waste Plastics
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
0
2
0
4
0
6
0
8
0
1
0
0
Wastepaper
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0

B)
Fig. 5 a. Distribution of recycling rate U/W (bootstrapped weighted mean): Scrap Iron (left),
and Iron-Steel Slag (right)b. Distribution of recycling rate U/W (bootstrapped weighted
mean): Waste plastics (left), and Wastepaper (right)
3.2 Upstream waste generation: Calculation from the input-output analysis
The second objective of this paper is to estimate the amounts of waste generated in various
stages of production along a supply chain, starting from downstream production the final
product to upstream production of supplies. We us the I-O table linked to the WBS data set
explained in Section 2.1 above. Tables 5a and 5b, respectively, describe the total amounts of
wastes generated average production supply chains for cellular phones and passenger car
production in Japan in 2000. In both cases, pig iron is the most significant contributor of
industrial waste. This is because production of pig iron generates heavy wastes such as
iron-steel slag. The second most significant contributor is electricity for cell phones and
passenger car final assembly for passenger cars. The total amounts of wastes generated are
about 410 thousand tonnes for cellular phones and over 9 million tonnes for passenger car
production. The cellular phone assembly sector generates relatively small amounts of
wastes but the passenger car assembly sector generates large amounts of wastes.


324
One of the most important wastes generated in producing pig iron is iron-steel slag, whose
unit generation rate distributes in a rather narrow range, has a symmetric distribution as
shown in Figure 4a and its variance is smaller compared to other wastes generated in any
other sectors. Unit waste generation rate for iron and steel slag lies between 1.4132 and
2.7613 at a 95% level (Table 3).

Cellular phone production supply chain in Japan, 2000:
final assembly and associated indirect (induced) stages of
production by upstream suppliers
Total amounts of wastes
and by-products
generated in stages of a
supply chain (in tonnes)
Pig iron 44,620
Electricity 42,440
Other electronic components 35,617
Copper 26,882
Plastic products 22,913
Crude steel (converters) 18,306
Paper 17,331
Cellular phone final assembly (direct stage) 13,434
Printing, plate making and book binding 13,367
Cyclic intermediates 12,002
Thermoplastics resins 9,258
Reuse and recycling 8,043
Aliphatic intermediates 7,925
Crude steel (electric furnaces) 7,782
Paperboard 6,832
Hot rolled steel 6,731
Cold-finished steel 6,151
Corrugated card board boxes 5,437
Petrochemical basic products 5,092
Lead and zinc (inc. regenerated lead) 4,490
Pulp 3,768
Other non-ferrous metals 3,696
Ferro alloys 3,621
Liquid crystal element 3,344
Integrated circuits 3,297
Other industrial inorganic chemicals 2,922
Iron and steel shearing and slitting 2,891
Electric wires and cables 2,802
Corrugated cardboard 2,791
Other metal products 2,601
Direct (final assembly of cell phones) 13,433
Total (all stages of production supply chain combined) 410,713

Table 5a. Generated wastes and by-products induced by cellular phone production

325

Passenger car production supply chain in Japan, 2000: final
assembly and associated indirect (induced) stages of production
by upstream suppliers

Total amounts of
wastes and by-
products generated in
stages of a supply
chain (in tonnes)
Pig iron 1,822,777
Passenger car final assembly (direct stage) 1,486,409
Crude steel (converters) 835,245
Motor vehicle parts and accessories 766,708
Electricity 422,843
Crude steel (electric furnaces) 365,982
Hot rolled steel 307,681
Internal combustion engines for motor vehicles and parts 276,001
Motor vehicle bodies 235,853
Cold-finished steel 200,976
Cast and forged materials (iron) 198,766
Ferro alloys 173,293
Coated steel 147,778
Reuse and recycling 132,619
Plastic products 120,871
Sheet glass and safety glass 108,440
Paper 89,860
Copper 84,560
Cyclic intermediates 81,456
Printing, plate making and book binding 70,531
Aliphatic intermediates 57,100
Thermoplastics resins 55,511
Synthetic rubber 46,305
Non-ferrous metal castings and forgings 44,044
Paperboard 39,111
Petrochemical basic products 37,843
Iron and steel shearing and slitting 37,178
Other metal products 37,135
Electrical equipment for internal combustion engines 36,679
Steel pipes and tubes 33,723
Direct (final assembly of passenger cars) 1,486,409
Total (all stages of production supply chain combined) 9,090,400

Table 5b. Generated wastes and by-products by Passenger Car production


326
Electricity sector also generates a significant amount of waste material, fly ash. The
distribution for its unit waste generation rate is shown in Figure 6, with its 95% confidence
interval (0.040, 0.110). Another waste, ferroalloy slag is generated by production supply
chain stages for both cell phones and passenger cars. Its unit waste generation rate has a
rather irregular distribution as shown in Figure 6, with its 95% confidence interval being
very wide and given by (2.47, 34.96). This suggests that waste management policies based
on point estimates for the unit waste generation rate for ferroalloy waste may lead to quite
erroneous implications in practice.
We have shown that unit waste generation rates for various wastes generated by production
supply chains distribute in different manners, sometimes with large variances and
asymmetric ways. This means serious limitations about the accuracy of policy decision
making relying on point estimates for the waste generation by production supply chains as
we do in EIO-LCA and other types of life cycle analyses.
Given this limitation in mind, we may still be able to use information on waste generation in
upstream production stages. Table 6 shows the total amounts of all wastes combined and
amounts of CO
2
emissions in the final (direct) assembly stage, a few upstream stages and all
stages combined of the average production supply chain for passenger cars with 2000cc
engines. Table 6 gives information about the stages which generate more waste than others.
Generally waste materials tend to be generated evenly along stages of a supply chain while
CO
2
emissions tend to be generated more unevenly and fluctuate widely along stages of a
supply chain. From policy perspectives, we conclude that application of production process
LCA is more difficult for CO
2
emissions than for generation of the 37 waste materials.

Soot and Dust Fly Ash
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16
0
2
0
4
0
6
0
8
0
1
0
0
1
2
0
1
4
0
Ferroalloy Slag
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
0 10 20 30 40 50
0
5
0
1
0
0
1
5
0
2
0
0

Fig. 6. Distribution of the unit waste generation rate W/x (bootstrapped weighted mean): Fly
ash (left) and ferroalloy slag (right)

327
All wastes combined
(summed in weight)
Each Stage Cumulative
(in tonnes) (in tonnes) Ratio
direct stage (final assembly) 0.244 0.244 0.164
1st indirect stage 0.263 0.507 0.340
2nd indirect 0.226 0.733 0.491
3rd indirect 0.255 0.988 0.662
4th indirect 0.232 1.219 0.817
..
Total (all stages combined) 1.493 1

CO
2
emissions
Each Stage Cumulative
(in tonnes) (in tonnes) Ratio
Direct 0.108 0.108 0.020
1st Indirect 0.707 0.814 0.155
2nd Indirect 1.206 2.020 0.384
3rd Indirect 1.152 3.172 0.602
4th Indirect 0.897 4.069 0.773
.. .. ..
Total 5.266 1
Table 6. Total wastes combines and CO
2
generated by stages of the average production
supply chain in Japan: passenger cars with 2000cc engines
4. Conclusion
Using the datasets that recently became available, we have obtained empirical distributions
for generation, recycling and landfill rates for the 37 types of waste materials that are
generated in the production processes of Japanese manufacturing establishments. Some of
the statistics reported are for the total amounts of all the wastes combined to save space.
Many empirical distributions obtained are not symmetric and have a long tail with the mean
much larger than the median, making it inappropriate for policy decision making based on
the mean generation rates. For example, if the regulation level is set at the industry mean, it
is likely that most establishments satisfy the regulation level without efforts while a few
large violators exceed the level by a big margin. In such a case it is more cost effective to set
the regulation standard at a level much higher than the mean, thus saving the monitoring
costs at most establishments while spending efforts to identify the few violators.
In the second part of the paper we have shown how to estimate the amounts of wastes
generated along stages of the average production supply chain and then given estimates for
production processes of cellular phones and passenger cars. We have repeated this for
emissions of carbon dioxide. In this supply chain analysis, we have shown that, given the
large amounts of wastes generated in stages of upstream production supply chains, it is
misleading to formulate waste management policies based only on the wastes generated in the
final demand stages of supply chains. Our estimation results suggest that, in setting waste
management policies, policy makers need to consider (1)not only the wastes generated from
the final assembly stage but also the wastes generated from upstream stages of production
supply chains and (2)such policies need to have different regulation standards for upstream
stages depending on the final sector product and also the waste being considered to be


328
regulated. For example, we have found that the amounts of CO
2
emissions vary significantly
from one stage to another of the Japanese production supply chain for passenger cars.
5. Acknowledgments
This research was in part supported by the Keio University Fukuzawa Fund and the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
6. Endnotes
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 18
th
International Input-Output
Association Conference held at the University of Sydney in Australia, June 20-25, 2010.
Preparation of the datasets used was done using Programming Language Pyhon 2.7 and
statistical analyses were done using R 2.12.1. Further details are available by e-mailing:
hayami@sanken.keio.ac.jp.
7. References
Baumol, W.J. & Wolff, E.N. (1994) A Key Role for Input-Output Analysis in Policy Design,
Vol.24, 93-113.
Calcott, P. & Walls, M. (2000) Can Downstream Waste Disposal Policies Encourage
Upstream Design for Environment? American Economic Review, Vol.90, 233-237.
The Clean Japan Center (2005 and 2006) CJC-0708 and CJC-0809. Available from
http://www.cjc.or.jp/.
Eiocla.net www.eiocla.nt, Carnegie Mellon.
Fullerton, D. & Kinnaman, T.C. (1995) Garbage, Recycling, and Illicit Burning or Dumping,
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Vol.29, 78-91.
Greaker, M. & Rosendahl, K.E. (2008) Environmental Policy with Upstream Pollution Abatement
Technology Firms, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Vol.56,246-259.
Hayami, H. & Nakamura, M. (2007) Greenhouse gas emissions in Canada and Japan: Sector-
specific estimates and managerial and economic implications. Journal of
Environmental Management, Vol. 85, 371-392.
Hendrickson, C. T.; Lave, L. B. & Matthews, H. S. (2006). Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
of Goods and Services: An Input-Output Approach, Resources for the Future Press,
ISBN-13 978-1933115245, Washington DC, USA.
Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) (2005 and 2006) the Waste and By-
Products Surveys on Establishments (Haikibutsu-Fukusanbutsu Hasseijoukyo-tou
no Chosa).
Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2000 and 2005) The Input Output
Tables. Available from http://www.go.jp/
Leontief, W. (1970) Environmental Repercussions and the Economic Structure: An Input-
Output Approach, Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol.52, No.3, 262-271.
Nakamura, K.; Kinoshita, S. & Takatsuki, H. (1996) The Origin and Behavior of Lead, Cadmiun,
and Antimony in MSW Incinerator, Waste Management, Vol.16 No.5/6, 509-517.
Suh, S., editor (2010) Handbook of Input-Output Economics in Industrial Ecology, Springer,
ISBN-13 978-1402061547, New York, USA.
Walls, M. & Palmer, K. (2001) Upstream Pollution, Downstream Waste Disposal, and the
Design of Comprehensive Environmental Policies, Journal of Environmental
Economics and Management, Vol. 41, 94-108.
17
The Effects of Paper Recycling
and its Environmental Impact
Iveta abalov, Frantiek Kak, Anton Geffert and Danica Kakov
Technical University in Zvolen, Faculty of Wood Sciences and Technology
Slovakia
1. Introduction
It is well known the paper production (likewise the other brands of industry) has enormous
effects on the environment. The using and processing of raw materials has a variety of
negative effects on the environment.
At the other hand there are technologies which can moderate the negative impacts on the
environment and they also have a positive economical effect. One of these processes is the
recycling, which is not only the next use of the wastes. The main benefit of the recycling is a
double decrease of the environment loading, known as an environmental impact reducing.
From the first view point, the natural resources conserves at side of the manufacturing
process inputs, from the second view point, the harmful compounds amount leaking to the
environment decreases at side of the manufacturing process outputs.
The paper production from the recycled fibers consumes less energy; conserves the natural
resources viz. wood and decreases the environmental pollution. The conflict between
economic optimization and environmental protection has received wide attention in recent
research programs for waste management system planning. This has also resulted in a set of
new waste management goals in reverse logistics system planning. Pati et al. (2008) have
proposed a mixed integer goal programming (MIGP) model to capture the inter-
relationships among the paper recycling network system. Use of this model can bring
indirectly benefit to the environment as well as improve the quality of waste paper reaching
the recycling unit.
In 2005, the total production of paper in Europe was 99.3 million tonnes which generated 11
million tonnes of waste, representing about 11% in relation to the total paper production.
The production of recycled paper, during the same period, was 47.3 million tonnes
generating 7.7 million tonnes of solid waste (about 70% of total generated waste in
papermaking) which represents 16% of the total production from this raw material (CEPI
2006).
The consumption of recovered paper has been in continuous growth during the past
decades. According to the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), the use of
recovered paper was almost even with the use of virgin fiber in 2005. This development has
been boosted by technological progress and the good price competitiveness of recycled
fiber, but also by environmental awareness at both the producer and consumer ends and
regulation that has influenced the demand for recovered paper. The European paper
industry suffered a very difficult year in 2009 during which the industry encountered more

down-time and capacity closures as a result of the weakened global economy. Recovered
paper utilisation in Europe decreased in 2009, but exports of recovered paper to countries
outside CEPI continued to rise, especially to Asian markets (96.3%). However, recycling rate
expressed as volume of paper recycling/volume of paper consumption resulted in a
record high 72.2% recycling rate after having reached 66.7% the year before (Fig. 1) (Hujala
et al. 2010; CEPI 2006; European Declaration on Paper Recycling 2010; Huhtala &
Samakovlis 2002; CEPI Annual Statistic 2010).

Fig. 1. European paper recycling 1995-2009 in million tonnes (European Declaration on
Paper Recycling 2006 2010, Monitoring Report 2009 (2010) (www.erpa.info)
Recycling is not a new technology. It has become a commercial proposition since Matthias
Koops established the Neckinger mill, in 1826, which produced white paper from printed
waste paper. However, there were very few investigations into the effect of recycling on
sheet properties until late 1960's. From then until the late 1970's, a considerable amount of
work was carried out to identify the effects of recycling on pulp properties and the cause of
these effects (Nazhad 2005; Nazhad & Paszner 1994). In the late 1980's and early 1990's,
recycling issues have emerged stronger than before due to the higher cost of landfills in
developed countries and an evolution in human awareness. The findings of the early 70's on
recycling effects have since been confirmed, although attempts to trace the cause of these
effects are still not resolved (Howard & Bichard 1992).
Recycling has been thought to reduce the fibre swelling capability, and thus the flexibility of
fibres. The restricted swelling of recycled fibres has been ascribed to hornification, which
has been introduced as a main cause of poor quality of recycled paper (Scallan & Tydeman
1992). Since 1950's, fibre flexibility among the papermakers has been recognized as a main
source of paper strength. Therefore, it is not surprising to see that, for over half a century,
papermakers have supported and rationalized hornification as a main source of tensile loss
due to drying, even though it has never been fully understood (Sutjipto et al. 2008).
Recycled paper has been increasingly produced in various grades in the paper industry.
However, there are still technical problems including reduction in mechanical strength for

The Effects of Paper Recycling and its Environmental Impact 331
recycled paper. Especially, chemical pulp-origin paper, that is, fine paper requires a certain
level of strength. Howard & Bichard (1992) reported that beaten bleached kraft pulp
produced handsheets which were bulky and weak in tensile and burst strengths by
handsheet recycling. This behaviour could be explained by the reduction in re-swelling
capability or the reduction in flexibility of rewetted pulp fibers due to fiber hornification
and, possibly, by fines loss during recycling processes, which decrease both total bonding
area and the strength of paper (Howard 1995; Nazhad & Paszner 1994; Nazhad et al. 1995;
Khantayanuwong et al. 2002; Kim et al. 2000).
Paper recycling is increasingly important for the sustainable development of the paper
industry as an environmentally friendly sound. The research related to paper recycling is
therefore increasingly crucial for the need of the industry. Even though there are a number
of researches ascertained the effect of recycling treatment on properties of softwood pulp
fibres (Cao et al. 1999; Horn 1975; Howard & Bichard 1992; Jang et al. 1995), however, it is
likely that hardwood pulp fibres have rarely been used in the research operated with
recycling treatment. Changes in some morphological properties of hardwood pulp fibres,
such as curl, kink, and length of fibre, due to recycling effects also have not been determined
considerably. This is possibly because most of the researches were conducted in the
countries where softwood pulp fibres are commercial extensively (Khantayanuwong 2003).
Therefore, it is the purpose of the present research to crucially determine the effect of
recycling treatment on some important properties of softwood pulp fibres.
2. Alterations of pulp fibres properties at recycling
The goal of a recycled paper or board manufacturer is to make a product that meets
customers specification and requirements. At the present utilization rate, using recycled
fibres in commodity grades such as newsprint and packaging paper and board has not
caused noticeable deterioration in product quality and performance (abalov et al. 2009).
The expected increase in recovery rates of used paper products will require a considerable
consumption increase of recycled fibres in higher quality grades such as office paper and
magazine paper. To promote expanded use of recovered paper, understanding the
fundamental nature of recycled fibres and the differences from virgin fibres is necessary.
Essentially, recycled fibres are contaminated, used fibres. Recycled pulp quality is, therefore,
directly affected by the history of the fibres, i.e. by the origins, processes and treatments
which these fibres have experienced.
McKinney (1995) classified the history into five periods:
1. fibre furnish and pulp history
2. paper making process history
3. printing and converting history
4. consumer and collection history
5. recycling process history.
To identity changes in fibre properties, many recycling studies have occurred at laboratory.
Realistically repeating all the stages of the recycling chain is difficult especially when
including printing and deinking. Some insight into changes in fibre structure, cell wall
properties, and bonding ability is possible from investigations using various recycling
procedures, testing methods, and furnishes.
Mechanical pulp is chemically and physically different from chemical pulp then recycling
effect on those furnishes is also different. When chemical fibres undergo repeated drying

and rewetting, they are hornified and can significantly lose their originally high bonding
potential (Somwand et al. 2002; Song & Law 2010; Kato & Cameron 1999; Bouchard &
Douek 1994; Khantayanuwong et al. 2002; Zanuttini et al. 2007; da Silva et al. 2007). The
degree of hornification can be measured by water retention value (WRW) (Kim et al. 2000).
In contrast to the chemical pulps, originally weaker mechanical pulps do not deteriorate but
somewhat even improve bonding potential during a corresponding treatment. Several
studies (Maloney et al. 1998; Weise 1998; Ackerman et al. 2000) have shown good
recyclability of mechanical fibres.
Admkov a Milichovsk (2002) present the dependence of beating degree (SR Schopper-
Riegler degree) and WRV from the relative length of hardwood and softwood pulps. From
their results we can see the WRV increase in dependence on the pulp length alteration is
more rapid at hardwood pulp, but finally this value is higher at softwood pulps. Kim et al.
(2000) determined the WRV decrease at softwood pulps with the higher number of recycling
(at zero recycling about cca 1.5 g/g at fifth recycling about cca 1.1 g/g). Utilisation of the
secondary fibres to furnish at paper production decrease of the initial need of woody raw
(less of cutting tress) but the paper quality is not significantly worse.
2.1 Paper recycling
The primary raw material for the paper production is pulps fibres obtaining by a
complicated chemical process from natural materials, mainly from wood. This fibres
production is very energy demanding and at the manufacturing process there are used
many of the chemical matters which are very problematic from view point of the
environment protection. The suitable alternative is obtaining of the pulp fibres from already
made paper. This process is far less demanding on energy and chemicals utilisation. The
paper recycling, simplified, means the repeated defibring, grinding and drying, when there
are altered the mechanical properties of the secondary stock, the chemical properties of
fibres, the polymerisation degree of pulp polysaccharidic components, mainly of cellulose,
their supramolecular structure, the morphological structure of fibres, range and level of
interfibres bonds e.g.. The cause of above mentioned alterations is the fibres ageing at the
paper recycling and manufacturing, mainly the drying process.
At the repeat use of the secondary fibres, it need deliberate the paper properties alter due to
the fiber deterioration during the recycling, when many alteration are irreversible. The
alteration depth depends on the cycles number and way to the fibres use. The main
problem is the decrease of the secondary pulp mechanical properties with the continuing
recycling, mainly the paper strength (Khantayanuwong et al. 2002; Jahan 2003; Hubbe &
Zhang 2005; Garg & Singh 2006; Geffertov et al. 2008; Sutjipto et al. 2008). This decrease is
an effect of many alterations, which can but need not arise in the secondary pulp during the
recycling process. The recycling causes the hornification of the cell walls that result in the
decline of some pulp properties. It is due to the irreversible alterations in the cells structure
during the drying (Oksanen et al. 1997; Kim et al. 2000; Diniz et al. 2004).
The worse properties of the recycled fibres in comparison with the primary fibres can be
caused by hornification but also by the decrease of the hydrophilic properties of the fibres
surface during the drying due to the redistribution or migration of resin and fat acids to the
surface (Nazhad & Paszner 1994; Nazhad 2005). Okayama (2002) observed the enormous
increase of the contact angle with water which is related to the fiber inactivation at the
recycling. This process is known as irreversible hornification.

Paper recycling saves the natural wood raw stock, decreases the operation and capital costs
to paper unit, decrease water consumption and last but not least this paper processing gives
rise to the environment preservation (e.g. 1 t of waste paper can replace cca 2.5 m
3
of wood).
A key issue in paper recycling is the impact of energy use in manufacturing. Processing
waste paper for paper and board manufacture requires energy that is usually derived from
fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. In contrast to the production of virgin fibre-based chemical
pulp, waste paper processing does not yield a thermal surplus and thus thermal energy
must be supplied to dry the paper web. If, however, the waste paper was recovered for
energy purposes the need for fossil fuel would be reduced and this reduction would have a
favourable impact on the carbon dioxide balance and the greenhouse effect. Moreover, pulp
production based on virgin fibres requires consumption of round wood and causes
emissions of air-polluting compounds as does the collection of waste paper. For better paper
utilization, an interactive model, the Optimal Fibre Flow Model, considers both a quality
(age) and an environmental measure of waste paper recycling was developed (Bystrm &
Lnnstedt 1997).
2.1.1 Influence of beating on pulp fibres
Beating of chemical pulp is an essential step in improving the bonding ability of fibres. The
knowledge complete about beating improves the present opinion of the fibres alteration at
the beating. The main and extraneous influences of the beating device on pulps were
defined. The main influences are these, each of them can be improve by the suitable beating
mode, but only one alteration cannot be attained. Known are varieties of simultaneous
changes in fibres, such as internal fibrilation, external fibrilation, fiber shortening or cutting,
and fines formation (Page 1989; Kang & Paulapuro 2006a; Kang & Paulapuro 2006c).
Freeing and disintegration of a cell wall affiliated with strong swelling expressed as an
internal fibrilation and delamination. The delamination is a coaxial cleavage in the
middle layer of the secondary wall. It causes the increased water penetration to the cell
wall and the fibre plasticizing.
External fibrillation and fibrils peeling from surface, which particularly or fully attacks
primary wall and outside layers of secondary walls. Simultaneously from the outside
layers there are cleavage fibrils, microfibrils, nanofibrils to the macromolecule of
cellulose and hemicelluloses.
Fibres shortening in any place in any angle-wise across fibre in accordance with
loading, most commonly in weak places.
Concurrently the main effects at the beating also the extraneous effects take place, e.g.
fines making, compression along the fibres axis, fibres waving due to the compression.
It has low bonding ability and it influences the paper porosity, stocks freeness (Sinke &
Westenbroek 2004).
The beating causes the fibres shortening, the external and internal fibrillation affiliated with
delamination and the fibres plasticizing. The outside primary wall of the pulp fibre leaks
water little, it has usually an intact primary layer and a tendency to prevent from the
swelling of the secondary layer of the cell wall. At the beating beginning there are
disintegrated the fibre outside layers (P and S1), the fibrilar structure of the fibre secondary
layer is uncovering, the water approach is improving, the swelling is taking place and the
fibrillation process is beginning. The fibrillation process is finished by the weaking and
cleavaging of the bonds between the particular fibrils and microfibrils of cell walls during

the mechanical effect and the penetration into the interfibrilar spaces, it means to the
amorphous region, there is the main portion of hemicelluloses.
eek & Milichovsk (2005) showed that with the increase of pulp beating degree the
standard rheosettling velocity of pulp decreases more at the fibres fibrillation than at the
fibres shortening.
Refining causes a variety of simultaneous changes in the fiber structure, such as internal
fibrillation, external fibrillation and fines formation. Among these effects, swelling is
commonly recognized as an important factor affecting the strength of recycled paper (Kang
& Paulapuro 2006d).
Scallan & Tigerstrom (1991) observed the elasticity modulus of the long fibres from kraft
pulp during the recycling. Flexibility decrease was evident at the beating degree decrease
(SR), and also with the increase of draining velocity of low-yield pulp.

80 C
100 C
120 C
virgin pulp 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
number of recycling
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
b
r
e
a
k
i
n
g

l
e
n
g
t
h

[
k
m
]

Fig. 2. Alteration of the breaking length of the paper sheet drying at the temperature of 80,
100 a 120 C during eightfold recycling

properties
of paper sheets
by drying
temperature 80 C
number of recycling
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Breaking length
[km]
1.6 8.3 6.3 6.3 5.7 5.7 5.4 4.9 5.0 5.0
Tear index
[mN.m
2
/g]
1.6 2.1 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.5 3.1 2.7 2.7
Brightnees
[%MgO]
83.8 80.0 82.2 82.8 82.5 82.4 82.0 82.4 82.5 82.6
Opacity [%] 71.4 63.9 68.8 67.8 69.5 69.1 70.0 70.1 69.1 70.3
DP by viscometry 699 666 661 663 653 642 642 608 607 611
DP by SEC 1138 1128 1126 1136 1115 1106 1094 1069 1053 1076

properties
of paper sheets
by drying
temperature
100 C
number of recycling
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Breaking length
[km]
1.5 9.1 7.1 6.5 5.4 5.0 4.3 4.4 4.2 4.0
Tear index
[mN.m
2
/g]
1.5 2.2 2.3 2.6 2.7 2.9 2.7 3.0 2.8 2.7
Brightnees
[%MgO]
83.4 81.0 81.8 81.8 82.9 82.4 82.8 82.5 82.3 82.4
Opacity [%] 72.0 64.4 67.7 68.5 69.3 70.1 70.8 71.0 71.1 71.2
DP by viscometry 699 689 688 680 650 672 660 646 636 624
DP by SEC 1138 1012 1010 938 923 918 901 946 942 941

properties
of paper sheets
by drying
temperature
120 C
number of recycling
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Breaking length
[km]
1.4 8.4 6.0 4.9 4.2 4.2 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.7
Tear index
[mN.m
2
/g]
1.4 2.1 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.7 3.1 2.7 2.7
Brightnees
[%MgO]
83.2 79.8 80.6 80.5 81.3 81.2 81.3 81.1 81.1 80.7
Opacity [%] 72.9 65.4 69.0 70.7 71.6 71.7 72.4 72.6 72.4 72.8
DP by viscometry 699 677 665 658 675 677 672 658 673 662
DP by SEC 1138 1030 1015 1059 1042 950 947 945 944 933

Table 1,2,3. The selected properties of the pulp fibres and the paper sheets during the
process of eightfold recycling at three drying temperatures of 80 C, 100 C a 120 C.
From the result on Fig. 2 we can see the increase of the pulp fibres active surface takes place
during the beating process, which results in the improve of the bonding and the paper
strength after the first beating. It causes also the breaking length increase of the laboratory
sheets. The secondary fibres wear by repeated beating, what causes the decrease of strength
values (Tab. 1,2,3).
The biggest alterations of tear index (Fig. 3) were observed after fifth recycling at the
bleached softwood pulp fibres. The first beating causes the fibrillation of the outside layer of
the cell wall, it results in the formation of the mechanical (felting) and the chemical bonds
between the fibres. The repeated beating and drying dues, except the continuing fibrillation
of the layer, the successive fibrils peeling until the peeling of the primary and outside

secondary layer of the cell wall. It discovers the next non-fibriled layer S2 (second, the
biggest layer of the secondary wall) what can do the tear index decrease. The next beating
causes also this layer fibrillation, which leads to the increase of the strength value (Fig. 3,
Tab. 1,2,3). Paper strength properties such as tensile strength and Scott bond strength were
strongly influenced by internal fibrillation; these could also be increased further by
promoting mostly external fibrillation (Kang & Paulapuro 2006b).
The course of the breaking length decrease and the tearing strength increase of the paper
sheet is in accordance with the results of Sutjipto et al. (2008) at the threefold recycling of the
bleached (88 % ISO) softwood pulps prepared at the laboratory conditions, beated on PFI
mill to 25 SR.

80 C
100 C
120 C
virgin pulp 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
number of recycling
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
3,0
3,5
4,0
t
e
a
r

i
n
d
e
x

[
m
N
.
m
2
/
g
]

Fig. 3. Tear index alteration of the paper sheets drying at the temperature of 80, 100 a 120 C,
during eightfold recycling
Song & Law (2010) observed kraft pulp oxidation and its influence on recycling
characteristics of fibres, the found up the fibre oxidation influences negatively the tear index
of paper sheets. Oxidation of virgin fibre prior to recycling minimized the loss of WRV and
sheet density.
The beating causes the fibres shortening and fines formation which is washed away in the
large extent and it endeds in the paper sludges. This waste can be further processed and
effective declined.
Within the European Union several already issued and other foreseen directives have great
influence on the waste management strategy of paper producing companies. Due to the
large quantities of waste generated, the high moisture content of the waste and the changing
composition, some recovery methods, for example, conversion to fuel components, are
simply too expensive and their environmental impact uncertain. The thermal processes,
gasification and pyrolysis, seem to be interesting emerging options, although it is still
necessary to improve the technologies for sludge application. Other applications, such as the
hydrolysis to obtain ethanol, have several advantages (use of wet sludge and applicable
technology to sludges) but these are not well developed for pulp and paper sludges.

Therefore, at this moment, the minimization of waste generation still has the highest priority
(Monte et al. 2009).
2.1.2 Drying influence on the recycled fibres
Characteristic differences between recycled fibres and virgin fibres can by expected. Many
of these can by attributed to drying. Drying is a process that is accompanied by partially
irreversible closure of small pores in the fibre wall, as well as increased resistance to
swelling during rewetting. Further differences between virgin and recycled fibres can be
attributed to the effects of a wide range of contaminating substances (Hubbe et al. 2007).
Drying, which has an anisotropic character, has a big influence on the properties of paper
produced from the secondary fibres. During the drying the shear stress are formatted in the
interfibrilar bonding area. The stresses formatted in the fibres and between them effect the
mechanical properties in the drying paper. The additional effect dues the tensioning of the
wet pulp stock on the paper machine.
During the drying and recycling the fibres are destructed. It is important to understand the
loss of the bonding strength of the drying chemical fibres. Dang (2007) characterized the
destruction like a percentage reduction of ability of the water retention value (WRV) in pulp
at dewatering.
Hornification = [(WRV
0
-WRV
1
)/WRV
0
]. 100 [%],
WRV
0
is value of virgin pup
WRV
1
the value of recycled pulp after drying and reslushing.
According to the prevailing concept, hornification occurs in the cell wall matrix of chemical
fibres. During drying, delaminated parts of the fiber wall, i.e., cellulose microfibrils become
attached as Fig. 4 shows (Ackerman et al. 2000).

Fig. 4. Changes in fiber wall structure
(Weise & Paulapuro 1996)
Fig. 5. Shrinkage of a fiber cross section
(Ackerman et al. 2000)
Hydrogen bonds between those lamellae also form. Reorientation and better alignment of
microfibrils also occur. All this causes an intensely bonded structure. In a subsequent

reslushing in water, the fiber cell wall microstructure remains more resistant to
delaminating forces because some hydrogen bonds do not reopen. The entire fiber is stiffer
and more brittle (Howard 1991). According to some studies (Bouchard & Douek 1994;
Maloney et al. 1998), hornification does not increase the crystallinity of cellulose or the
degree of order in the hemicelluloses of the fiber wall.

Fig. 6. The drying model of Scallan (Laivins & Scallan 1993) suggests that hornification
prevents the dry structure in A from fully expanding to the wet structure in D. Instead, only
partial expansion to B may be possible after initial drying creates hydrogen bonds between
the microfibrils (Kato & Cameron 1999)
Weise & Paulapuro (1996) did very revealing work about the events during fiber drying.
They studied fiber cross section of kraft fibers in various solids by Confocal Laser Scanning
Microscope (CLSM) and simultaneously measured hornification with WRV tests.
Irreversible hornification of fibers began on the degree of beating. It does not directly follow
shrinkage since the greatest shrinkage of fibers occurs above 80 % solids content. In Figs. 4
and 5, stage A represented wet kraft fiber before drying. In stage B, the drainage has started
to cause morphological changes in the fiber wall matrix at about 30 % solids content. The
fiber wall lamellae start to approach each other because of capillary forces. During this
stage, the lumen can collapse. With additional drying, spaces between lamellae continue
shrinking to phase C where most free voids in the lamellar structure of the cell wall have
already closed. Toward the end of drying in stage D, the water removal occurs in the fine
structure of the fiber wall. Kraft fiber shrink strongly and uniformly during this final phase
of drying, i.e., at solid contents above 75-80 %. The shrinkage of stage D is irreversible.
At a repeated use of the dried fibres in paper making industry, the cell walls receive the
water again. Then the opposite processes take place than in the Fig. 4 and 5. It show
Scallans model of the drying in Fig. 6.
The drying dues also macroscopic stress applied on paper and distributed in fibres system
according a local structure.
2.1.3 Properties of fibres from recycled paper
The basic properties of origin wet fibres change in the drying process of pulp and they are
not fully regenerated in the process of slushing and beating.
The same parameters are suitable for the description of the paper properties of secondary
fibres and fibres at ageing as well as for description of primary fibres properties. The

experiences obtained at the utilisation of waste paper showed the secondary fibres have
very different properties from the origin fibres. Next recycling of fibres causes the formation
of extreme nonhomogeneous mixture of various old fibres. At the optimum utilisation of the
secondary fibres it need take into account their altered properties at the repeated use. With
the increase number of use cycles the fibres change irreversible, perish and alter their
properties. Slushing and beating causes water absorption, fibres swelling and a partial
regeneration of properties of origin fibres. However the repeated beating and drying at the
multiple production cycles dues the gradual decrease of swelling ability, what influences a
bonding ability of fibres. With the increase of cycles number the fibres are shortened. These
alterations express in paper properties. The decrease of bonding ability and mechanical
properties bring the improving of some utility properties. Between them there is higher
velocity of dewatering and drying, air permeability and blotting properties improve of light
scattering, opacity and paper dimensional stability.
The highest alterations of fibres properties are at the first and following three cycles. The
size of strength properties depends on fibres type (Geffertov et al. 2008).
Drying influences fibres length, width, shape factor, kinks which are the important factors to
the strength of paper made from recycled fibres. The dimensional characteristics are
measured by many methods, known is FQA (Fiber Quality Analyser), which is a prototype
IFA (Imaging Fiber Analyser) and also Kajaani FS-200 fibre-length analyser. They measure
fibres length, different kinks and their angles. Robertson et al. (1999) show correlation
between methods FQA and Kajaani FS-200. A relatively new method of fibres width
measurement is also SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) (Bennis et al. 2010). Among
devices for analyse of fibres different properties and characteristics, e.g. fibres length and
width, fines, various deformations of fibres and percentage composition of pulp mixture is
L&W Fiber Tester (Lorentzen & Wettre, Sweden). At every measurement the minimum of
20 000 fibres in a sample is evaluated. On Fig. 7 there is expressed the alteration of fibres
average length of softwood pulps during the eightfold recycling at the different drying
temperature of pulp fibres.

Fig. 7. Influence of recycling number and drying temperature on length of softwood pulps
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
80 C
100C
120 C
a
v
e
r
a
g
e

l
e
n
g
t
h

o
f

f
i
b
r
e
s

[
m
m
]
number of recycling


Fig. 8. Influence of recycling number and drying temperature on width of softwood pulps
The biggest alteration were observed after first beating (zero recycling), when the fibres
average length decrease at the sheet drying temperature of 80 C about 17%, at the
temperature of 100 C about 15.6% and at the temperature of 120 C about 14.6%.
After the first beating the fibres average width was markedly increased at the all
temperatures dues to the fibrillation influence. The fibres fibrillation causes the fibre surface
increase. Following markedly alteration is observed after fifth recycling, when the fibres
average width was decreased. We assume the separation of fibrils and microfibrils from the
cell walls dues the separation of the cell walls outside layer, the inside nonfibriled wall S2
was discovered and the fibres average width decreased. After the fifth recycling the strength
properties became worse, mainly tear index (Fig. 3).
The softwood fibres are longer than hardwood fibres, they are not so straight. The high
value of shape factor means fibres straightness. The biggest alterations of shape factor can be
observed mainly at the high drying temperatures. The water molecules occurring on fibres
surface quick evaporate at the high temperatures and fibre more shrinks. It can result in the
formation of weaker bonds between fibres those surfaces are not enough near. At the
beginning of wet paper sheet drying the hydrogen bond creates through water layer on the
fibres surface, after the drying through monomolecular layer of water, finally the hydrogen
bond results after the water removal and the surfaces approach. It results in destruction of
paper and fibre at the drying.
Chemical pulp fines are an important component in papermaking furnish. They can
significantly affect the mechanical and optical properties of paper and the drainage
properties of pulp (Retulainen et al. 1993). Characterizing the fines will therefore allow a
better understanding of the role of fines and better control the papermaking process and the
properties of paper. Chemical pulp fines retard dewatering of the pulp suspension due to
the high water holding capacity of fines. In the conventional method for characterizing the
role of fines in dewatering, a proportion of fines is added to the fiber furnish, and then only
the drainage time. Fines suspension is composed of heterogeneous fines particles in water.
The suspension exhibits different rheological characteristics depending on the degree of
interaction between the fines particles and on their hydration (Kang & Paulapuro 2006b).
From Fig. 9 we can see the highest formation of fines were after seventh and eight recycling,
when the fibres were markedly weakened by the multiple using at the processes of paper
25.0
25.5
26.0
26.5
27.0
27.5
28.0
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
80 C
100 C
120 C
a
v
e
r
a
g
e

w
i
d
t
h

o
f

f
i
b
r
e
s

[
m
]
number of recycling

making. They are easier and faster beating (the number of revolution decreased by the
higher number of the recycling).

Fig. 9. Influence of recycling process and drying temperature on pulp fines changes
The macroscopic level (density, volume, porosity, paper thickness) consists from the
physical properties very important for the use of paper and paperboard. They indirectly
characterize the three dimensional structure of paper (Niskanen 1998). A paper is a complex
structure consisting mainly of a fibre network, filler pigment particles and air. Light is
reflected at fibre and pigment surfaces in the surface layer and inside the paper structure.
The light also penetrates into the cellulose fibres and pigments, and changes directions.
Some light is absorbed, but the remainder passes into the air and is reflected and refracted
again by new fibres and pigments. After a number of reflections and refractions, a certain
proportion of the light reaches the paper surface again and is then reflected at all possible
angles from the surface. We do not perceive all the reflections and refractions (the multiple
reflections or refractions) which take place inside the paper structure, but we perceive that
the paper has a matt white surface i.e. we perceive a diffuse surface reflection. Some of the
incident light exists at the back of the paper as transmitted light, and the remainder has been
absorbed by the cellulose and the pigments. Besides reflection, refraction and absorption,
there is a fourth effect called diffraction. In other contexts, diffraction is usually the same
thing as light scattering, but within the field of paper technology, diffraction is only one
aspect of the light scattering phenomenon. Diffraction occurs when the light meets particles
or pores which are as large as or smaller then the wavelength of the light, i.e. particles which
are smaller than one micrometer (m). These small elements oscillate with the light
oscillation and thus function as sites for new light sources. When the particles or pores are
smaller than half of the light wavelength the diffraction decreases. It can be said that the
light passes around the particle without being affected (Pauler 2002).
The opacity, brightness, colouring and brilliance are important optical properties of papers
and paperboards. For example the high value of opacity is need at the printing papers, but
opacity of translucent paper must be lower. The paper producer must understand the
physical principles of the paper structure and to determine their characteristics composition.
It is possible to characterize nondirect the paper structure. The opacity characterizes the
paper ability to hide a text or a figure on the opposite side of the paper sheet. The paper
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
80 C
100 C
120 C
p
u
l
p

f
i
n
e
s

[
%
]
number of recycling

brightness is a paper reflection at a blue light use. The blue light is used because the made
fibers have yellowish colour and a human eye senses a blue tone like a white colour. The
typical brightness of the printing papers is 70 95% and opacity is higher than 90%
(Niskanen 1998).
3. Paper ageing
The recycled paper is increasingly used not only for the products of short term consumption
(newspaper, sanitary paper, packaging materials e.g.), but also on the production of the
higher quality papers, which can serve as a culture heritage medium. The study of the
recycled papers alterations in the ageing process is therefore important, but the information
in literature are missing.
The recycling is also another form of the paper ageing. It causes the paper alterations, which
results in the degradation of their physical and mechanical properties. The recycling causes
a chemical, thermal, biological and mechanical destruction, or their combination
(Milichovsk 1994; Geffertov et al. 2008). The effect of the paper ageing is the degradation
of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin macromolecules, the decrease of low molecular
fractions, the degree of polymerisation (DP) decrease, but also the decline of the mechanical
and optical properties (El Ashmawy et al. 1974; Valtasaari & Saarela 1975; Lauriol et al.
1987a,b,c; Bansa 2002; Havermans 2003; Dupont & Mortha 2004; Kuerov & Halajov, 2009;
abalov et al. 2011). Cellulose as the most abundant natural polymer on the Earth is very
important as a renewable organic material. The degradation of cellulose based paper is
important especially in archives and museums where ageing in various conditions reduces
the mechanical properties and deteriorates optical quality of stored papers, books and other
artefacts. The low rate of paper degradation results in the necessity of using accelerating
ageing tests. The ageing tests consist in increasing the observed changes of paper properties,
usually by using different temperature, humidity, oxygen content and acidity, respectively.
Ageing tests are used in studies of degradation rate and mechanism. During the first ageing
stagesnatural or acceleratedthere are no significant variations in mechanical properties:
degradation evidence is only provided by measuring chemical processes. Oxidation induced
by environmental conditions, in fact, causes carbonyl and carboxyl groups formation, with
great impact on paper permanence and durability, even if mechanical characteristics are not
affected in the short term (Piantanida et al. 2005). During the degradation two main
reactions prevail hydrolysis of glycosidic bonds and oxidation of glucopyranose rings. As
a result of some oxidation processes keto- and aldehyde groups are formed. These groups
are highly reactive; they are prone to crosslinking, which is the third chemical process of
cellulose decay (Bansa 2002, Calvini & Gorassini 2006).
At the accelerated paper ageing the decrease of DP is very rapid in the first stages of the
ageing, later decelerates. During the longer time of the ageing there was determined the
cellulose crosslinking by the method of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) (Kak et al.
2009). The similar dependences were obtained at the photo-induced cellulose degradation
(Malesic et al. 2005).
An attention is pay to the kinetic of the cellulose degradation in several decades, this process
was studied by Kuhn in 1930 and the first model of the kinetic of the cellulose chains
cleavage was elaborated by Ekenstam in 1936. This model is based on the kinetic equation of
first-order and it is used to this day in modifications for the watching of the cellulose
degradation in different conditions. Hill et al. (1995) deduced a similar model with the


Fig. 10. Alterations of DP (degree of polymerisation) of cellulose fibres due to recycling and
ageing at the pulp fibres drying temperature of 80 C, 100 C a 120 C.
contribution of the zero order kinetic. Experimental results are often controversial and new
kinetic model for explanation of cellulose degradation at various conditions was proposed
(Calvini et al. 2008). The first-order kinetic model developed by these authors suggests that
the kinetics of cellulose degradation depends upon the mode of ageing. An autoretardant
path is followed during either acid hydrolysis in aqueous suspensions or oven ageing, while
the production of volatile acid compounds trapped during the degradation in sealed
y = -2.1333x + 683.33
y = -10,22x + 603,3
450
500
550
600
650
700
750
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D
P
number of recycling
before ageing 80 C
after ageing 80 C
y = -7,842x + 707,5
y = -7,521x + 595,0
450
500
550
600
650
700
750
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D
P
number of recycling
before ageing 100
C
y = -9,357x + 696,6
y = -2,975x + 579,6
450
500
550
600
650
700
750
virgin
pulp
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
D
P
number of recycling
before ageing 120 C
after ageing 120 C

environments primes an autocatalytic mechanism. Both these mechanisms are depleted by
the consumption of the glycosidic bonds in the amorphous regions of cellulose until the
levelling-off DP (LODP) is reached.
At the accelerated ageing of newspaper (Kak et al. 2008), the cellulose degradation causes
the decrease of the average degree of polymerisation (DP). The DP decrease is caused by
two factors in accordance with equation
DP = LODP + DP01.e
-k1.t
+ DP02.e
-k2.t
,
where LODP is levelling-off degree of polymerisation. There is a first factor higher and
quick decreasing during eight days and a second factor is lower and slow decreasing and
dominant after eight days of the accelerating ageing in the equation. The number of
cleavaged bonds can be well described by equation
DP
0
/DP
t
1 = n
0
.(1-e
-k.t
),
where n
0
is an initial number of bonds available for degradation. The equation of the
regression function is in accordance with Calvini et al. (2007) proposal, the calculated value
(4.4976) is in a good accordance with the experimentally obtained average values of DP
0

a DP
60
(4.5057). The DP decreased to cca 38% of the initial value and the polydispersity degree
to 66% of the initial value. The decrease of the rate constant with the time of ageing was
obtained also by next authors (Emsley et al. 1997; Zervos & Moropoulou 2005; Ding & Wang
2007). abalov et al. (2011) observed the influence of the accelerated ageing on the recycled
pulp fibres, they determined the lowest decrease of DP at the fibres dried at the temperature
of 120 C (Fig. 10).
The simultaneous influence of the recycling and ageing has the similar impact at the drying
temperatures of 80 C (decrease about 27,5 %) and 100 C (decrease about 27.6%) in regard
of virgin pulp, lower alterations were at the temperature of 120 C (decrease about 21.5%).
The ageing of the recycled paper causes the decrease of the pulp fiber DP, but the paper
remains good properties.
4. Conclusion
The recycling is a necessity of this civilisation. The paper manufacturing is from its
beginning affiliated with the recycling, because the paper was primarily manufactured from
the 100 % furnish of rag. It is increasingly assented the trend of the recycled fibers use from
the European and world criterion. The present European papermaking industry is based on
the recycling.
The presence of the secondary fibres from the waste paper, their quality and amount is
various in the time intervals, the seasons and the regional conditions. It depends on the
manufacturing conditions in the paper making industry of the country.
At present the recycling is understood in larger sense than the material recycling, which has
a big importance from view point of the paper recycling. Repeatedly used fibres do not fully
regenerate their properties, so they cannot be recycled ad anfinitum. It allows to use the
alternative possibilities of the paper utilisation in the building industry, at the soil
reclamation, it the agriculture, in the power industry.
The most important aim is, however, the recycled paper utilisation for the paper
manufacturing.

5. Acknowledgment
This work was financed by the Slovak Grant Agency VEGA (project number 1/0490/09).
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Fiber Properties by Principal Component Analysis. Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 37, pp. 219
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18
Overview Management Chemical Residues of
Laboratories in Academic Institutions in Brazil
Patrcia Carla Giloni-Lima, Vanderlei Aparecido de Lima
and Adriana Massa Kataoka
Universidade Estadual do Centro Oeste (UNICENTRO)
Brazil
1. Introduction
In the last decades the discussion regarding the environmental theme has acquired
concerning proportions for planetary order. Taking into account the civilization crisis in
which we are immersed, the environment has been associated to a problem.
During the process of civilization, we perceive an accelerated growth of human population
and the various wastes generated as byproducts of their activities surpass the resilience
capacity of the environment, generating imbalances in their original cycles. Large discharges
of artificial elements in high concentrations (many of them toxic and harmful to life) are
constantly deposited in regions where its subsystem revolves around natures own
dynamics. This flow of residues deposition returns to human beings life cycle as pollution,
radiation, contamination, acid rain, among others (Jardim, 1993).
In this sense, generation and fate of wastes have been one of the themes treated by
environmental education means and the media. This outcome is a consequence of a
capitalist society in which consumerism is required for its own maintenance. It is no surprise
that the issue of waste generation and its fate are present in scientific discussions, as well as
in common sense. It could not be different since each of us has its own direct contribution to
this framework.
The technical solution for the problem is fundamental and represents a challenge and an
important research field for professionals in the area. But that technical knowledge alone is
not adequate to solve the problem. Most waste management initiatives in universities
emphasize the importance of environmental education, but merely quote them without
exploring their full potential in addressing these issues. These works point out that one of
the obstacles for the success of such management programs are the people, and more
precisely, their understanding.
Working with people in regards to environmental issues is exactly the field of action of
environmental education in which, in general, universities employ professionals set in
departments of biology, education, among others. It is worthwhile to ask ourselves: why do
not these professionals working at universities communicate with each other? Another
important inquiry: why cannot a university composed of professionals that comprise
different fields of knowledge work in an interdisciplinary fashion on a problem generated
by the university itself? Such discussion has been intensively investigated by universities
and disseminated to society.


352
Next we will try to answer these questions from reflections addressed by environmental
education firstly contextualizing this matter in a broader perspective for we do not agree
that a punctual approach could satisfactorily explain the complexity of this subject,
incurring the risk of simplification, which would be insufficient to the quest for a more
effective solution.
1.2 Overview of universities and institutions of higher education and research
developed in Brazil
The 2009 census on Higher Education in Brazil, carried out by INEP (Instituto Nacional de
Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Ansio Teixeira; National Institute of Educational Studies
and Research Ansio Teixeira, http://www.inep.gov.br/) showed that the number of
Brazilian Higher Education Institutions (HEI) grows every year (Figure 1).
In 2009, 2 314 HEI were registered, being 89.4 (p <0.001) private and only 10.6% public
institutions. Colleges still account for most HEIs, representing 85 of them. Nevertheless,
the majority of courses are conglomerate on universities, with 49.8% of undergraduate
courses.

Fig. 1. Evolution the number of Institutions of Higher Education (HEI) - Brazil - 2000/2009.
Source: INEP, http://www.inep.gov.br/.
In Brazilian HEIs, the top ten courses in number of enrolled students are: administration,
law, pedagogy, engineering, nursing, accountancy, communication, languages and
literature, physical education and biology. These courses comprise 66.4% of students
enrolled in Brazilian higher education institutions.
Modern Chemistry has revolutionized mankind for many years and is undoubtedly one of
the basic sciences more present in peoples lives through closely related segments (e.g.,
textile, chemical, food and pharmaceutical industry). Chemistry has also contributed to
Overview Management Chemical
Residues of Laboratories in Academic Institutions in Brazil

353
develop human lifes quality for the last 40 years (Coelho, 2001). Institutes and departments
of Chemistry at universities, as well as all segments that make use of chemicals in their daily
work, have been confronting the issues linked to treatment and disposal of wastes brought
forth in their teaching and research laboratories for many years (Gerbase et al., 2005). This is
the reason why Chemistry courses are the target of discussions in this text, as it presents
certain intrinsic features concerning the organization system of laboratory classes.
In Brazil, only larger universities have programs for waste management and treatment.
Among them are: IQ/USP - Instituto de Qumica da Universidade de So Paulo (Chemistry
Institute of So Paulo University); IQSC/USP - Instituto de Qumica da Universidade de
So Paulo do Campus So Carlos (Chemistry Institute of So Paulo University at So
Carlos); CENA/USP - Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura da Universidade de So
Paulo (Center of Nuclear Energia in Agriculture of So Paulo University); UNICAMP -
Universidade de Campinas (Campinas State University); IQ/UERJ - Instituto de Qumica
da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Chemistry Institute of Rio de Janeiro State
University); DQ/UFPR Departamento de Qumica da Universidade Federal do Paran
(Chemistry Department of Paran Federal University); IQ/UFRGS - Instituto de Qumica
da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Chemistry Institute of Rio Grande do Sul
Federal University); UCB - Universidade Catlica de Braslia (Braslia Catholic
University); UFSCar - Universidade Federal de So Carlos (So Carlos Federal
University); FURB Universidade Regional de Blumenau (Blumenau Regional
University); URI Universidade Regional Integrada do Alto Uruguai e das Misses (Alto
Uruguai e das Misses Regional Integrate University); UFRJ Universidade Federal do Rio
de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Federal University) (Afonso et al, 2004); UNIVATES Centro
Universitrio Univates (Univates University Center).
Usually in Brazilian universities, Chemistry departments, in addition to their practice
classes in laboratories for their own students, they also attend to other undergraduate
courses.
A survey taken into account reagents used in basic experimental subjects within five major
areas of Chemistry at Brazilian universities is presented. It includes about 180 substances
among the ones applied and developed in laboratory activities. The curricular program for
Chemistry undergraduates comprises five areas of experimental Chemistry: Experimental
General Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and
Inorganic Chemistry.
Experimental General Chemistry covers the initial concepts of Chemistry, when students
start their learning process in experimental classes in laboratories. The subject program
involves the following topics: laboratory safety, nomenclature and characteristics of
glassware, measures of mass, volume, density and temperature, physical and chemical
processing, standardization of substances, acid/base titrations and determination of levels
of substances in our daily lives. Although this course is an introductory practice, in which
students carry out their first experiments in Chemistry, a certain number of substances are
required for the development of such laboratory experiments.
The second area of experimental subjects is Qualitative and Quantitative Analytical
Chemistry. Chemical reactions experienced in these subjects aim to identify and isolate
cations and anions by reactions of neutralization, precipitation, complexation, oxidation-
reduction, release of gases, as well as volumetric and gravimetric determinations.
Students are divided into groups of three or four for laboratory practices. A laboratory
technician prepares and organizes the class so that students, under the professors


354
supervision, carry out experiments. In these practice classes, the volume of substances
generated is relatively small when compared to industries; however, there is a wide range of
chemical wastes generated. The list of chemicals produced in practice classes is
considerable, so we listed some of the most important shown in Table 1.
The third area of experimental subject in Chemistry is called Physical Chemistry (Table 1)
and deals with concepts of energy associated with molecules and chemical reactions,
electrochemistry, the laws of ideal gases, chemical kinetics and chemical and physical
adsorption.
The fourth area is Organic Chemistry, which studies carbon compounds and their reactions.
There are two experimental subjects, organic Chemistry I and II. In those subjects, most
compounds that are required and generated in these classes are organic and are also
presented in Table 1.

Chemistry area

Chemistry products
1. Experimental general
Chemistry
sodium hydroxide, oxalic acid, hydrochloric acid, benzoic acid,
gasoline, solid iodine, phenolphthalein, methyl orange, thymol
blue, magnesium, ammonium dichromate, phenol red sodium
salt, alizarin yellow R sodium salt, methyl red sodium salt,
bromo phenol, bromocresol green sultone, sodium bromide,
sodium iodide, strontium chloride, copper(II) sulfate,
chromium(III) chloride, potassium chloride, nickel(II) chloride,
potassium iodate, potassium iodide, ethylene glycol, aniline,
sodium sulfate, manganese(II) sulfate, iron(II) sulphate,
aluminum sulfate, potassium nitrate, barium chloride, ferric
chloride, butanol, ammonium carbonate, calcium hydroxide,
cobalt(II) nitrate, lead II nitrate, sodium phosphate monobasic,
ascorbic acid, lithium chloride, potassium permanganate,
calcium cyanide, cobalt(II) sulphate.
2. Analytical Chemistry

sodium hydroxide, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, Hydrochloric acid,
potassium thiocyanate, nickel salts, potassium ferrocyanide,
and heavy metals in the form of their salts, as salts of silver,
chromate and potassium dichromate, lead salts like lead II
chloride, mercuric chloride, copper II salts and cadmium salts.
3. Physical Chemistry chromate and potassium dichromate, ammonium thiocyanate,
ethyl acetate, acetone, acetic acid, ethanol, naphthalene,
diphenylamine, sodium dodecyl sulfate, copper sulfate,
potassium chlorate, manganese(IV) oxide, phenol, zinc sulfate,
nickel sulphate and silver chloride.
4. Organic Chemistry glycerin, benzoic acid, dinitrobenzene, glucose, copper(II)
oxide, barium hydroxide, sodium ferrocyanide, aminobenzene,
benzoic acid, ethoxy ethane, hydrochloric acid, ethanol,
cyclohexanol, sulfuric acid, cyclohexene, potassium
permanganate, nitrobenzene, acetanilide, 2-propanol, acetone,
n-butyl ether, phenylamine, sodium nitrite, copper sulfate,
adipic acid, carbon tetrachloride, liquid bromine, eugenol, urea,

355
formaldehyde, salicylic acid, methyl salicylate, acetic
anhydride, acetylsalicylic acid, 4-aminoazobenzene, caffeine,
ethyl acetate, methanol, dichloromethane, benzanilide, 4-
nitroacetanilide, methyl benzoate, hydroquinone diacetate,
benzocaine, 1,3-dibenzoylacetone, butyraldehyde,
benzaldehyde, dimethyl phthalate, phthalic anhydride, 2,4,6-
tribromoaniline, methyl salicylate, isopropyl bromide, among
others.
5. Inorganic Chemistry potassium permanganate, sulfuric acid, hydrogen peroxide
solution, sodium thiosulfate, sulfur, potassium iodate, sodium
metabisulfite, potassium hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite,
ferrous sulfate, nickel(II) nitrate, cobalt(II) chloride, calcium
carbonate, magnesium carbonate, magnesium chloride,
ammonium chloride, ammonium hydroxide solution,
strontium chloride, ammonium sulfate, barium chloride, acetic
acid, sodium tetraborate, aluminum sulfate, sodium carbonate,
nickel(II) nitrate, lead(II) nitrate, barium sulfate, calcium
sulfate, magnesium sulfate, strontium chloride, sodium acetate,
ferric chloride, ammonium thiocyanate, sodium chloride,
potassium chloride, sodium bromide, potassium iodide,
ammonium chloride, calcium hydroxide, ammonium iron(II)
sulfate hexahydrate, potassium fluoride, potassium
thiocyanate, copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, lithium chloride,
methanol, potassium oxalate, ethanol, cobalt(II) sulfate
heptahydrate, sodium silicate, potassium chromium(III) oxalate
trihydrate, tris(ethylenediamine) nickel(II) chloride hydrate,
cobalt (II) nitrate, tris (ethylenediamine) cobalt(III) nitrate, tris
(ethylenediamine) nickel(II) chloride hydrate, nickel(II) acetate
tetrahydrate, ammonium nitrate, tetra amin cobalt (III)
carbonate, pentaamminechlorocobalt(III) chloride, tris (oxalate)
chromate (III), potassium copper chloride (II), tartaric acid,
formaldehyde solution.
Table 1. A survey of reagents used in basic experimental subjects in five major areas of
Chemistry in Brazilian universities.
The last but not the least important area listed herein is Inorganic Chemistry. It is the branch
of Chemistry that studies chemical elements and nature substances that do not display
carbon in their structures, investigates structures, properties and explains the mechanism of
their reactions and transformations. In Experimental Inorganic Chemistry, various
chemicals are necessary for reactions (Table 1), as well as other several chemicals are formed
after reactions.
The great variety of substances used or generated during practice classes usually makes
waste management in educational and research institutions or similar service providers
more intricate than in industry. Unlike industries, these institutions generate small amounts
of waste, most of which in laboratories. These wastes consist of a wide variety of substances,
toxic or non-toxic, including new compounds of unknown toxicity. Besides, their
compositions change on every new research project or experiment (Gerbase et al., 2005;
Tavares & Bendassolli, 2005; Jardim, 1998; Ashbrook & Reinhardt, 1985).


356
Implantation of a Program Management of Chemical Residues (PMCR) should whenever
possible accomplish the priority scales or hierarchy (Jardim, 1998):
Prevent waste generation (hazardous or not);
Minimize the amount of hazardous wastes that are inevitably generated;
Segregate and concentrate waste currents in order to make possible and economically
viable a managing activity;
Reuse internal or external wastes;
Recycle material or energetic components of the waste;
Keep all waste at its most treatable conformation;
Safely treat and dispose wastes.
In this context, can we achieve this premise if we promote changes in daily activities of
professionals: professors, researchers and laboratory technicians directly involved in the
generation of chemical wastes (Nolasco et al., 2006; Tavares & Bendassolli, 2005; Singh,
2000):
a modification of a certain process (or analytical method), substitution of raw materials
or inputs;
minimization using microscale techniques;
segregation of waste into different classes of compatibility;
reapplication of waste inevitably produced by recycling or reuse;
treatment through acid/base neutralization and chemical precipitation of metals.
In addition, practices of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) (Pera-Titus et al., 2004; Perez
et al., 2006), treatment and heavy metals recovery (Kurniawan et al., 2006), are already
commonly used in several treatments of substances generated in laboratory. We can
recommend other easily handling practices to reduce generated chemical wastes.
One example is the preparation of the dye 1 - (p-nitrophenylazo)-2-naphthol from p-
nitroacetanilide. Initially in experiments performed in Organic Chemistry I, where the p-
nitroacetanilide is prepared, serving as a substrate for the next reaction, the production of 1 -
(p-nitrophenylazo)-2-naphthol. This last reaction is performed in experimental classes of
Organic Chemistry II. Therefore, the product generated in a practice class is applied in
another, minimizing then generation of chemical wastes in class.
We may also employ an alternative related to separation and identification of cations and
anions in the subject Experimental Analytic Chemistry. Cations and anions not harmful to
environment could be normally determined, but the identification of heavy metals, such as
copper, silver, cadmium, lead, mercury and chromium, could be applied a single time. In
experiments to be performed with these metals, procedures could be filmed and
photographed step-by-step. Later, this material would be used to set a database with films
and pictures containing all steps developed in the identification and determination of these
elements. Then, the same experiments with these metals would not be conducted later, in
the way that students of the following years would attend to audio-video classes, decreasing
generation and supply of toxic residuals in laboratories.
The final disposal of wastes may be achieved in industrial disposal sites or other adequate
locations, avoiding the misinformation that incineration and co-processing are ways of
disposal. In such processes residual material is burnt, gases that should be treated are
produced and ashes are subsequently sent to landfills (Nolasco et al., 2006).
The number of scientific publications coming from Brazil has grown steadily over the past
26 years, culminating in 26 482 in 2008 (Figure 2). In parallel, Brazils international

357
contribution with articles has climbed from 0.8 % in 1992 to 2.7 % in 2008. There is a
correlation between this increase and the growing number of PhDs awarded annually
(UNESCO, 2010).

Fig. 2. Evolution of number of scientific publications from Brazil in period 1992 to 2008.
Source: UNESCO, 2010.
We must be aware that benefits from our professional and scientific activities (publications,
patents, scientific recognition, development of new products and technologies) may
generate, on the other hand, chemical residues from varying degrees of dangerousness.
They may require appropriate chemical treatment before being sent to final disposal
(Afonso et al., 2003).
Universities represent places where scientific knowledge is produced, from where usually
their new products and technologies arise, building up its part in society and directly
interfering in it. We know that training goes well beyond the execution of a specific
undergraduate program, experiences through contact with professors, laboratory
technicians and staff, apprenticeships, basic scientific research activities, tutoring and degree
dissertations, among others. They surpass content or technical aspects of each area. Thus, we
are concerned about the example being given to students when professionals apparently
turn their backs to such problem. That is, students experience a total lack of accountability
before an issue present in their own immediate environment. There is no denying that such
experience will be part of this future professional education with possible repercussions in
their professional future.
Universities, as opinion builders, should take advantage of all opportunities to create
conditions for self-evaluation, seeking the formation of future professionals with
environmental awareness, ethics and co-responsibility. In this sense is relevant to emphasize
the fact that there is no sustainability in the social-environmental structure of universities,


358
either in the relationship among people, or the relationship among nature, people and their
residuals.
Another aspect to be taken into account is that, in the structure of the university, still prevail
the issues created by knowledge fragmentation. This criticism is made by some parties in
the university itself through scientific papers, books and lectures, though it does not
resonate inside its own walls.
We should not forget that universities are embedded in a social liberal context that seeks to
adapt the principles of economic liberalism to the conditions of modern capitalism. Then,
the entire academic community is suffocated by a "market" that requires high productivity
and consequently hinders an integrated vision and a careful look to itself.
In this context, environmental education plays a crucial role which can manage hazardous
wastes in universities. In order to start wondering how could be this performance of
environmental education, it is important to comprehend the significance of environmental
education and what are its principles.
1.3 Brazilian legislation relevant to the theme
There is a tendency in our society to consider harmful to the environment only those
activities that generate large amounts of wastes. Consequently, these are great generators
always under the supervision of state environmental protection agencies and subject to
punishment. Small waste generators, such as educational and research institutions,
biochemical and physicochemical laboratories, are usually considered not harmful to
environment by inspection agencies and, therefore, rarely investigated as for discarding
their chemicals wastes (Jardim, 1993).
Solid, industrial, radioactive and health services wastes are under control of a specific
legislation with standard rules and procedures for storing, transportation and final disposal.
In these cases the national and state legislations indicate specific controlling agencies, and a
valid principle is that polluter pays for its violations. This principle is part of the
environmental law that forces the polluter to compensate all damages caused to the
environment.
In Brazil, Law 6.938/81 concerning the Environment National Policy establishes a "Objective
Liability" which does not require proof of guilt in case of possible environment damage.
That is, for a potential polluter to be punished it is solely necessary to demonstrate the link
cause-effect between an activity developed by an organization and the given environmental
damage. In summary, it means that a pollutant, even though being produced in acceptable
concentrations established by current law, may cause environmental damage, subjecting
responsible to compensation. Moreover, even if any indirect damage is detected, and since
its connection to an organization is testified, the latter will be held responsible (Machado,
2002).
Applying the Objective Liability Law is hindered by the difficulty in inspection
procedures in several industry areas, research institutions and universities, inducing
environmental risks and contributing to its degradation. This problem is almost always
avoided until more serious threats, iniquities and environmental conflicts may reach people
directly engaged to these contexts, such as inhabitants surrounding a degraded area where
residuals present potential and effectively high levels of pollution and contamination
(Penatti , 2008).
ABETRE (Associao Brasileira de Empresas de Tratamento de Resduos; Brazilian
Association of Waste Management Companies) estimate that only 22% of approximately

359
2.9 million tons of industrial hazardous wastes annually produced in the country receive
adequate treatment (ABETRE, 2002). It is also plausible to assume that waste production is
not exclusive of industries, once laboratories in universities, colleges and research facilities
also generate chemical residuals in high diversity and low volume, yet it may represent 1%
of all hazardous wastes generated in a developed country (Ashbrook & Reinhardt, 1985).
Such verification leads us to the fact that the matter of chemical residuals management,
originated from research and teaching activities, should be taken as discussions and
research themes that deserve more space in the Brazilian academic cycle. This should also be
motivated by the important role that research and educational institutions play towards
formation of human resources accustomed to environmental management practices (Afonso
et al., 2003; Alberguini et al., 2003; Jardim, 1998).
A survey regarding several management programs at institutions of higher education shows
that management of their own wastes is an actual concern for most of them, and they are
aware of the issues related to environmental degradation. However, between a spoken or
written commitment and effective actions, there is a great distance.
In this sense, we cannot just criticize universities for not complying with legislation,
because, in most cases, the lack of infrastructure and resources, as well as public policies
focused on the matter, limits the adequate disposal of wastes.
As many industries do, colleges and universities encounter thorny problems dealing with
hazardous wastes. Industry and academia alike are saddled with the rising cost of waste
management and face sensitive liability for costs of waste cleanup (Ashbrook & Reinhardt,
1985). One institution experiencing problems with the dramatically rising costs of hazardous
waste management is the University of Illinois. In 1977, the University spent $2,000 to
dispose of 100 drums of chemical wastes. By 1982, the cost of disposing of 265 drums had
risen to $46,000, an 87 % annual increase in the cost of storing, transportation and disposing
of wastes in a landfill (Ashbrook & Reinhardt, 1985).
Gerbase et al. (2005) suggest some actions meant to funding, research and teaching
regulation agencies in Brazil, in order to defeat financial difficulties inherent to the
installation of programs for managing hazardous waste, such as:
resource allocation and specific convocations to Environmental and Hazardous Waste
Management (chemical, biological and radioactive) in research and educational
institutions;
establishment of working groups of experts in order to propose standard rules for
Safety in Chemistry for research and educational institutions;
a quality criterion to be included as an item for evaluation by Ministrio da Educao e
Cultura (Ministry for Education and Culture; MEC) and Coordenadoria de
Aperfeioamento de Profissional de Ensino Superior ( Coordination for Improvement
of Higher Education Professional; CAPES), the existence, or project implementation, of
a program for hazardous waste management in graduate and undergraduate
institutions for education and research.
Orloff and Falk (2003), discussing international perspectives on hazardous waste practices,
suggest that an effective hazardous waste management program is a collaborative effort and
must include input from all relevant parties: federal, state, and local government officials,
citizens, academia, and representatives of industry and non-governmental organizations.
Citizens are important stakeholders and their input about waste management is crucial to
ensure acceptance of society.


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2. Environmental education (EE) as a tool in the process of toxic waste
management
Several authors have addressed the lack of environmental awareness within academic
communities as an obstacle to greening (Riera, 1996; Meyerson & Massey, 1995; Creighton,
1999). The consensus is that people must be educated before a change can take place. As for
the sampled institutions, a double set of morals seems to exist. On the one hand, they all
considered the lack of awareness to prevent a greening process within energy and waste
management from taking place. However, practically nothing had been done to raise
environmental awareness.
The lack of environmental awareness was considered significant because people do not
know how to act sustainable. In other words, investing in waste and energy reducing
devices has no meaning unless people know how and why it should be carried out. Decision
makers must be familiar with the benefits of greening to establish environmental policies
and to invest in green devices, and academics must realize the necessity of being green
role models to their students (Dahle & Neumayer, 2001). The importance of raising
environmental awareness at high education institutions is now being recognized from
various bodies; the UK Sustainable Development Education Panel (1999) notes that:
All further and higher educational institutions should have staff fully trained and
competent in sustainable development, and should be providing all students with relevant
sustainable development learning opportunities.
In Brazil, EE is guided by the Treaty on Environmental Education for Sustainable Societies,
Environmental Education Policy and PRONEA (National Environmental Education
Program) and has sought to build an interdisciplinary perspective to understand the issues
that affect relationships between human groups and their environment and to intervene on
them, activating several areas of knowledge (Carvalho, 1998).
For the education to integrate in the process of Environmental Management, it is required
that "conditions necessary for production and acquisition of knowledge and skills are
provided and attitudes are developed attempting to individual and corporate participation
in dealing with environmental resources and in conceiving and applying decisions that
affect quality of physical-natural and sociocultural means" (Quintas, 2000).
Thus, it is clear that we cannot expect a ready recipe for how environmental education deals
with the management process. We may however start out a discussion on the principles of
environmental education, having in mind that one of the aspects to be considered is the
quest for the solution of a problem through a dialogue amongst actors involved in the
problem. Therefore, the construction of a management process will be conducted
considering the several contributions by the actors involved, as well as its adequacy to local
reality.
The environmental educator must look for the meanings of human action that are in the
roots of socio-environmental processes that seem to synthesize the core of interpretative
making of environmental education. By demonstrating cultural and political meanings
taking place in the interactive processes society-nature, the educator would be a translator of
perceptions which are also, on their turn, social and historical interpretations that
mobilize several interests and human interferences in the environment. In the opposite
direction of an objective vision, in which interpreting the environment would mean
conceive it in its factual reality, describe its laws, mechanisms and operation, one should
demonstrate the horizons of historical-cultural sense that configure relationships with the
environment for a certain human community and in a given time (Carvalho, 1998).

361
Our consideration on the contribution of environmental education is twofold. The first
would be a broader approach, whose fundamental idea would be the accomplishment of an
Environmental Education Policy for Sustainability at the University. The implementation of
such policy, involving the entire academic community prioritizing the search for solutions
for experienced environmental issues and often generated by the university itself, which
would be extremely desirable, then, includes the toxic residues problem on a broader
context, due to the complexity of the environmental problems nature. In this sense, the
hazardous wastes problem would be treated like the solid wastes, sewage contamination,
the rationalization of water and energy consumption, the quality of environment and
interpersonal relationships at work, the institutional master plan, among others. Such an
environmental policy would contribute in the sense of giving direction to where the toxic
wastes matter resides in broader context. The acceptance of a systemic approach would be
suggested, with the possibility to become clearer, as some problems may bear a common
cause or a common solution. Hence, the possibility to combine financial resources would be
eased, as well as the so much recommended interdisciplinary integration.
The other approach would be associated to more technical aspects directly linked to
management of self-generated wastes. In this sense, the interview methodologies,
environment social representations, among others, would be applied at all times according
to necessity, mainly during the development of work immediately with involved actors.
3. Overview of PMCR implanted and proposition integrated management of
chemical residues (IMCR) based on a environmental education policy for
sustainability in universities (EEPSU)
The system of environmental management is characterized by promoting sustainable
development through a local procedure, aiming to develop a sense of global environmental
responsibility. This system establishes in its execution general and specific processes for
each section of activity in order to engage and involve all organization members. That is the
reason why the institutional support is essential and the commitment of the highest
hierarchies is an essential and ideal condition. Nevertheless, even when unconditional and
unrestricted institutional support is lacking, is no reason for the process not to occur.
A critical analysis on several programs of laboratory chemical wastes management at
universities carried out by Nolasco et al. (2006) reveals a significant homogeneity regards
adopted principles and emphasizes the opinion of professionals directly related to the
execution of such programs. These professionals select as main difficulties the investment
need in infrastructure and institutional support.
Coelho (2001) states that within universities there is no lack of technical capability, yet
political willingness of institutions in giving proper relevance to the matter, as well as the
execution of internal policies, widely discussed and disseminated, involving the entire
academic community and also support for scientific research by the responsible organs.
Izzo (2000) acknowledges other aspects that complicates the implementation of PMCR in
universities, HEI and research institutes and hinders the program coordination: (1)
decentralization of these institutions in which different administration sections and
departments work independently; (2) rotation of undergraduate and graduate students; (3)
variation on research projects conducted in these institutions; (4) most of them do not
present a centralized purchase and storing section.
Variations in research projects and regular changes in lines of work reflect peculiarities in
wastes generated in the universities when compared to industries. They present reduced


362
volume, though also a great diversity of compounds, which makes any establishment of a
chemical treatment and or a standardized final disposal difficult (Gerbase et al., 2005;
Jardim, 1998; Ashbrook & Reinhardt, 1985).
The proposal to establish a Policy on Environmental Education for Sustainability in
Universities (EEPSU) aims to unify planning, control and supervision of natural resources
appliance that we use during our activities with awareness and always in search for
sustainability. It also has to do with us becoming responsible for the consequences of using
these resources, trying to minimize our consumerism, avoiding waste of natural resources
and promoting reduction of wastes generation of all kinds. All this tends to minimize any
type of environmental impact.
The policy established a pathway to best practice by requiring the establishment of an
environmental management plan that would set out how the university would manage
issues of environmental concern and interest bearing in mind the commitment to principles
of ecology-sustainable development. The universities surveyed (Australian and New
Zealand) have an environmental policy. The importance of developing an environmental
plan is to establish concrete guidelines. Where a policy states that a university is committed
to sustainable development, a plan will outline how sustainability will be included in
university operations. Other aspects are that, by outlining future environmental
development, plans facilitate accountability and leave the university open to criticism. Plans
can foster participation and representation; committees and working groups may be
established as representatives of the university community (Carpenter & Meehan, 2002).
Dahle and Neumayer (2001) believed that the most important measure for reducing or
overcoming established barriers to green university is to raise environmental awareness
within campus communities, i.e. sustainable behavior cannot be expected to take place
unless people understand the benefits and importance of doing so. Creighton (1999)
suggests that, to achieve a green university that uses resources efficiently, creates little or
no waste, and takes full responsibility for any waste that it does generate, a fundamental
change in the thinking behind routine decisions of university administration, staff, faculty
and students is needed.
These alternatives can be achieved through the implementation of EEPSU increasing ethical
conscience and co-responsible for the academic community (teachers, laboratory technicians
and administrative and academic), which lead to formation of professionals aware of their
citizenship and their professional role.
Policies are necessary, it must be remembered that they are abstract statements of principles
that, while creating a positive environment, do little to improve environmental
performance; it is only when policies become operationalised through the establishment of a
plan and subsequent programs that environmental performance can be improved
(Carpenter & Meehan, 2002).
The Integrated Management for Chemical Residues in High Education Institutions
(IMCRHEI) proposed by Giloni-Lima and Lima (2008) drew the scientific communitys
interest, notwithstanding, as it was published in a Brazilian journal and written in
Portuguese, its circulation was restrained. In this sense, we take the opportunity to spread it
after revision and expansion, aiming to offer an integrated proposal, as its name implies,
and in accordance with PEESU and other aspects of this chapter. It is worth mentioning that
the MCRP is one of the problems experienced by HEIs and will be addressed by EEPSU,
and the former may happen even if the latter does not. On the other hand, if the policy is
active, waste management would be part of a wider process.

363
The participation of academics at all stages of the process would be of great value, because
they would have the opportunity to demonstrate their interest in various working groups
and act as multipliers, acting in the research for information and generating data applied for
management of chemical residues.
The general structure of the flow chart proposed (Scheme 1) consists of four stages which

Fig. 3. Basic flow chart to implantation the Integrated Management for Chemical Residues in
High Education Institutions (IMCRHEI). Solid lines: direction to basic lines of work; dashed
lines: feedback; dotted lines: direct application to results in the implantation of IMCRHEI.
start from the constitution of a Manager Committee, which will coordinate the development
process for deploying IMCRHEI, employing the formation of three Basic Work lines - 1st
stage, with the formation of (1) Discussion Group, (2) Environmental Education Group and
(3) of the Technical Chamber. The results of work developed in the first stage will define the
main points to be worked out in stage 2, Pre-implantation of the Management Program.
Once initiated this step, after gathering all basic requirements needed, i.e., setting goals and
objectives of the management program, as well as a minimum training required for
(1) Discussion Group
Passive and active
environmental survey,
IMCRHEI goals
(2) EE Group
Academic community
sensibilization and
participation of all
actors
(3) Technical
Chamber Priority
scale application in
IMCRHEI
Management Committee
IMCRHEI Goals Launching
purposes for implantation of
management program
(2) Human resources
Training (academic
community or actors)
(3) Teaching and Research
Activities (Subjects and
research lines towards
management chemical
residues)
Application of results obtained in
teaching, research and extension
activities in IMCRHEI
Popularization of goals
and objectives established
to management program
Popularization to academic
community or actors
Scientific dissemination
publication of data in
monographs, degree
words, other researches
IMCRHEI implantation
Quality and performance
indicators
Work lines
(1
st
stage)
Pre-implantation
of IMCRHEI
(2
nd
stage)
Popularization
and
implantation of
IMCRHEI (3
rd

stage)
Process
evaluation
(4
th
stage)


364
compliance, from where stage 3 - Divulgation and Implantation IMCRHEI can be initiated,
one should look for unambitious and real goals, as failure in a first attempt tends to
discourage further attempts (Jardim, 1998).
It is worth noting that there is a consensus that environmental education is an important
tool in the execution of waste management programs, though they are usually based on
activities of passive and active environmental surveys (task proposed to discussion group)
and application of hierarchy scales proposed by technical chamber, where EE is only
mentioned in almost all programs.
Activities of teaching and research for its peculiarities have a proper time to be concluded
and execute the application of its results (dotted line in Scheme 1). The 4th stage, Process
Evaluation, is the time to review achievements or failures from the Quality and Performance
Indicators established by the basic lines of work, which can forward their findings to
promote the necessary adjustments to the process as a whole.
The learning process generate information to permit self-regulatory and self-correcting
activities to occur, while involving monitoring, applying systems thinking, and performing
self-assessment. Without the use of environmental indicators for monitoring, environmental
audits and self-assessments, learning might not take place. These tools enhance learning
process (Herremans & Allwright, 2000).
Creation of the Manager Committee is based on a discussion process for the formation of
groups of professionals from various fields of training and identified with the EEPSU. The
form of constitution of the Manager Committee and groups which are willing to develop the
lines of work can follow the own institution dynamics, or still can start from the creation of a
discussion forum which may represent an open space for discussions about the theme,
circulation of information about the institutional reality regarding the current management
of self-generated waste, to exchange experiences, and especially will enable professionals to
evaluate the profile that would be more suitable, aware and willing to engage in
coordination of the process.
We suggest the formation of a multidisciplinary group, involving faculty members from
areas of administration, chemistry and biology, education, and student body of the
institution to coordinate the three basic lines of work (Stage 1) of IMCRHEI implementation,
aiming to integrate the academic and scientific community in the process, being as follows:
1. Discussion Groups: These groups might work in survey information with two types of
waste: the passive (which includes reaction from debris, passing through solid waste
and bottles without labels) and active (continuously generated, the result of routines in
the generating unit). The characterization of passives shall be equated as well and using
simple tests (Jardim, 1998; Armour, 1996).
2. Group of Environmental Education aims to involve professionals in the field of
Environmental Education (EE) and to promote a line of work to undertake a process to
make the academic community aware of the relevance of the thematic, even before the
establishment of plan goals. These professionals may also work in developing an
Environmental Education Program based on information provided by discussion
groups (1), in order to assist processes of dissemination and training of the academic
community.
3. Technical Chamber: this group may act to evaluate the practical activities carried out in
laboratories (in conjunction with the teachers responsible for them), the implantation of
the priority scale (Jardim, 1998) seeking the best alternatives within its institutional
reality. This group can also act as a generator of theme for future research directed to

365
monographs, works of completion and until the creation of lines of research in order to
structure the management of hazardous chemicals or not, the proposition of safety
standards chemistry, etc.
The environmental education group, due to its interdisciplinary, contextualized, critical and
emancipatory nature must somehow be involved with groups 1 and 3. This situation is
justified by the need for this group to understand all relationships involved in the
management process. Its performance may occur at all times that involve human relations.
It is worth emphasizing that the participation of all stakeholders is crucial. In order to
increase likelihood of successful management, actors must be heard and have opportunity
of opinion for it generates commitment. A commonly used method for environmental
education to achieve this practice is the research participant. The technique of social
representations also brings great contributions. A social representation is the common sense
that one has about a given topic (Reigota, 2010), through this technique, one can find out
scientific concepts of how they were learned and perceived by people. It can also be
understood as a set of principles built interactively and shared by different groups that
understand and transform reality through it (Moscovici, 2003).
It is important to note that the information given here should be taken only as suggestions,
because, as previously mentioned, the search for the paths to be followed will be built up by
the group. Thus, the EE could help at times as in the situations listed below:
assessment process through investigation of social representations of those involved:
professors, students and laboratory technicians;
in planning, involving results previously surveyed;
on the destination, by minimizing waste generation or disposal, and proper destination,
developing in all groups involved an environmental and ethical conscience;
disseminating and instruction other laboratories that generate waste and chemicals
which are not under the responsibility of professionals in the field;
internal and external divulgation of the management program implantation.
The training program for the academic community may act in the formation of specialized
human resources in the management and disposal of chemical waste, both undergraduates
and graduates, which extends beyond technical skills, may further strengthen ethical and
co-responsible conscience in regards of chemical safety in workplace and environmental
liability.
Training courses could also involve practical actions that try to minimize environmental
impact and risk to those involved with direct or indirect engagement with hazardous
wastes, including chemical, biological and radioactive ones produced during teaching and
research procedures (Gerbase at al., 2005). The acquiring funds could occur through projects
submitted to funding agencies that support research through specific calls, or partnerships
with public and private organizations that can be later profited with costless courses and
supporting programs for social inclusion of people without qualifications. Such actions
allow sharing with society the fundamental concepts of environmental wastes management
through courses to the community (Bendassolli et al., 2003).
The problems raised by the Technical Chamber in implementing a priority scale (Jardim,
1998), within the activities developed in the generator unit, may guide teaching, research
and extension activities to be developed. The creation of specific subjects or others related to
the theme and the availabiliby of trainings (Alberguini et al., 2003; Tavares & Bendassolli,


366
2005; Bendassolli et al., 2003) are able to promote an interdisciplinary approach, stimulating
the formation of academic student within a more holistic perspective, working on his
technical training and environmental responsibility, and to promote ethical attitudes
improving the profile of the future professional. In regards to research procedures, there are
innumerable possibilities to include researchers, technicians and undergraduate and
graduate students in generating data and information that reach the basic precepts and its
major aspects in order to achieve the requirements of current environmental legislation.
Internal and external divulgation (Stage 3) of the Integrated Plan for Waste Management is
essential for awareness and dissemination of ideas and attitudes that corroborate the
process. Nolasco et al. (2006) posits that utilization of intercommunication ways in the unit
eases maintenance and continuity of the program. The World Wide Web (Internet) has been
extensively used for this purpose, facilitating communication and access to information
relevant to the MCRP.
The fourth stage of the process is extremely important because it will promote an
assessment process as a whole, through the use of Indicators of Quality and Performance,
which could provide an evaluation of the process efficiency depending on the products you
want to achieve allowing the use of feedback mechanisms and recurrence of achievements
and failures, redirecting them in order to reach the intended goals and objectives.
Some elements that can assist in structuring indicators of quality and performance are:
identifying the goals to be achieved, defining forms of measurement that may be used and
for each raised indicator, how these are calculated, how often the assessment will occur and
how to interpret results. These can provide information to raise the specific points in which
objectives and goals are not yet reached and allowing to evaluate in which line (1, 2 or 3)
adjustments are necessary and feedback subsequent actions (dashed lines in Scheme 1).
3. Conclusion
Chemistry is a basic science that has brought great benefits to humanity and is present in
everyday life, in textile, food, pharmaceutical, agrochemical, petrochemical industries, etc.,
revolutionizing our lives in bringing comfort and technologies that translate into improved
life quality and expectancy. This science, due to its own features, is linked to progress and
development, representative characters of contemporary society, which, in search for life
quality, generates concerning environmental impacts. We need to handle environmental
impacts as political matters and to conceive the environment as a common public property,
as well as its care as a political right, expanding its comprehension and citizenship practice.
The proposal for a Policy on Environmental Education for Sustainability at the University is
conceived in order to assess possible environmental impacts related to activities undertaken
by universities and by means of technical and scientific competence, the pursuit of
interdisciplinary solutions, and more sustainable alternatives for managing, treatment,
storage and disposal of chemical wastes generated in their teaching and research activities.
The establishment of a sustainability policy can also facilitate access to financial resources,
scarce on this issue, but unexpendable.
We regard that environmental legislation in Brazil and in the world is evolving and trying to
adjust to technological, economical and social developments. Despite the lack of legislation
specifically defined for peculiarities of waste generated in Institutions of Higher Education,

367
a great deal of universities in Brazil and the world have expressed their concern on the issue,
taking on their responsibility for the development of science and technology towards
management of chemical waste.
Management of hazardous chemicals in universities is a problem that must be seriously
considered and with responsibility, and face the consequences regarding the relevance of
professional formation to academics with ability to fairly practice its profession committed
to citizenship. The integrated management program for chemical residues in HEIs,
pervades legal, educational, scientific and environmental management aspects. It involves
the entire academic community where the priority would be the establishment of an
environmental policy in the institution. The process begins with the composition of a
manager committee that coordinates and directs the formation of the three basic lines of
work: discussion groups, environmental education and the technical chamber (1
st
stage).
The second stage is the IMCRHEI pre-implantation that establishes goals and objectives and
where the sensibilization process on academic community begins, both encompassing the
participation of all actors involved. It is important to emphasize that every line of work has
different times for its consolidation, in particular the activities to be undertaken by the
technical chamber. The proposal anticipates the circulation of goals and objectives planned
cooperatively and, after implantation (stage 3), performance and quality indicators would be
used in the evaluation process (stage 4), a feedback mechanism supports good results and
indicates alternatives in case of failures.
Environmental education plays an extremely essential role in this process, since through the
joint participation of the entire academic community (professors, administrative and
laboratory technicians, students), shows where is the lack of sustainability in our activities
(wastage, misuse of natural resources, in generating and disposing of solid and chemicals
wastes) and, associated with institutional expertise, explains how to more sustainably
execute them. Concerning more specific issues, such as the management of chemical wastes,
EE presents an integrated proposal, where it is present since the conception of the politic-
philosophical proposal, in sensibilization and training of actors involved.
EE may also act to minimize problems caused by knowledge fragmentation, helping to
sensibilize skillful professionals to work in an ethical, conscious, responsible, critical and
contextualized manner. Professionals able to execute their tasks in a "green" form, knowing
the basic procedures of safety and environmental protection, both within and outside the
university.
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85205-81-2, So Carlos, Agosto/2008
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Degradation of chlorophenols by means of advanced oxidation processes: a general
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ISSN 0926-3373
Prez, M. H.; Peuela, G.; Maldonado, M. I.; Malato, O. Fernndez-Ilbez, P.; Oller, I.
Gernjak, W. & Malato, S. (2006). Degradation of pesticide in water using solar
advanced oxidation processes. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, Vol.64, No.3-4,
(May/2006), pp. 272-281, ISSN 0926-3373
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ed.), IBAMA, Braslia, ISBN 0104-7892
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Rio de Janeiro
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W. Leal Filho; F. MacDermot & J. Padgam (Eds), A Manual of Good Practice, CRE-
COPERNICUS, Bradford.
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de resduos e guas servidas nos laboratrios de ensino e pesquisa no
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0100-4042
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United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2010).
UNESCO Science Report 2010 The current status of science around the world, France,
ISBN 978-92-3-104132-7
19
Lengthening Biolubricants Lifetime
by Using Porous Materials
Estibaliz Aranzabe, Arrate Marcaide,
Marta Hernaiz and Nerea Uranga
Fundacion TEKNIKER
Spain
1. Introduction
The most of the lubricants such as automotive lubricants, gear oils, automatic transmissions
fluids, engine lubricants, compressors oils... have being disposed on the environment for
years, without any special care. Waste disposal is becoming a major source of concern and
the tolerance of unnecessary pollution by society decreases
1
.
As it has been described in the European General Instructions, 75/439/CEE, 78/319/CEE
and 87/101/CEE, used lubricants as toxic disposals are attached to several rules and
standards. One of the main problems of lubricants is the proportion of them lost into the
environment in the course of routine usage
2
. The spillage of lubricants to the environment is
one of the main problems during their routine usage. About 600000 Tonnes of lubricating
oils per year are lost without control which implies a hard damage to the environment
because just 1 litre of lubricant over the water is needed to form a film of oil of 4000 m
2
.

In Europe the 50% of the lubricants are consumed for automotive purposes, and 35% for
general industries (compressors, turbines, hydraulics, bearing, metal-working). More than
95% of the market is dominated by the mineral oil based lubricants which are polluting the
environment but have in this moment a lower price and high availability. The market of
biolubricants is still in a development stage and there is a priority to formulate high
performance biodegradable lubricants.
The growing importance of environmental awareness and regulations has leaded to new
demands of lubricants based on biodegradable materials. Several national eco-
labels/schemes and one international standard have been developed in the recent years
setting requirements for the ecological and technical characteristics of lubricants: The main
difference relating to the ecological criteria for lubricants is the use of renewable raw
materials, a newly included concept that aids to meet the three pillars of sustainability. An
example of requirements concerning renewable raw material are the Swedish Standard for
greases (SS 155470 Greases) and the Nordic Swan for lubricating oils.

1
Product Reviews: Liquid waste disposal and Recovery - Lubricant Recycling, Ind. Lub. Trib., 1994,
46, (4), 18-26.
2
The Need For Biodegradable Lubricants, Ind. Lubr. and Trib., 1992, 44, (4), 6-7.


372
The final criteria of European Eco-label
3
for lubricants was published in the Official Journal
of 5 May 2005 and it will be valid until June 2011. It comprises hydraulic oils, greases,
chainsaw oils, two stroke oils, concrete release agents and other total loss lubricants, for use
by consumers and professional users. The ecological criteria for the product group
lubricants shall be valid for 4 years from the date of notification of the Decision. On the
occasion of the next revision particular attention will be paid to following issues: the
possibility of including an additional test for toxicity to flora, the use of standardised
performance tests, evaluating the criterion on biodegradability and bio-accumulative
potential, the percentage&sourcing of the renewable raw materials, static or dynamic link to
the OSPAR list and the Community list of priority substances in the field of the water
policy, possible extension of the scope of the group, evaluating whether criteria need to be
more ambitious, evaluating the consumer information.
The criteria are designed to reflect the philosophy of the new EU regulatory framework for
chemicals (REACH - Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals)
4
and are in
line with the Dangerous Substances Directive and Dangerous Preparations Directive.
Besides that, substances appearing in the Community list of priority substances in the field
of water policy and the OSPAR List of Chemicals for Priority Action, shall not be
intentionally added as an ingredient in a product eligible for the European eco-label.
According to the background document for the European Eco-label to lubricants, Several
European countries regulations and policies exist in favour of biolubricants. In Germany,
Austria and Switzerland is forbidden the use of mineral oil based lubricants around inland
waterways and in forest areas. In Italy there is a tax for mineral oils. In Portugal there is a
regulation that mandates the use of biolubricant two-stroke engine oils in outboard boat
engines. In Belgium is required to use a biolubricant in all operations taking place near non-
navigable waters. In the Netherlands there is an action programme in favour of
biolubricants since 1996.
The use of non-toxic lubricant will improve health and safety of all individuals that are in
contact with products and materials during their whole lifecycle. At the end of the life of the
lubricants, recycling or disposal will release lubricants to the environment and again to
individuals, either directly or via intermediate steps such as animal food or drinking water.
Such a release of solid and/or liquid wastes can affect for many years the quality of life. For
instance, the very harmful PCBs have been already been banned 20 years ago.
Notwithstanding that, they are still being released by dismantling of old electrical
transformers containing these products as coolants.
The use of biodegradable lubricants will reduce problems on disposal. In most of the
countries in the European Union each consumer is responsible of its own lubricant. It means
that disposal of lubricants must be done by each consumer following the rules of each
country. The non fulfillment of these rules can be fined or even imprisoned. Then, mineral
oil based lubricants can be critical when arrive to the environment (earth and water). They
contain substance which are not compatible with the biosphere and can cause damage to
soil organisms, plants, aquatic organism. The use of biodegradable lubricant means that in
28 days, the 98% of the lubricant will be biodegradable and no film of oil will remain on the

3
Ecological Criteria for the award of the Community ecolabel to lubricants- Regulatory Committee of
the European Parliament and of the Council- 2005.
4
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the council concerning the Registration, Evaluation,
Authorisation and Restrictions of Chemicals.

Lengthening Biolubricants Lifetime by Using Porous Materials

373
water. The soft impact produced to the environment by biodegradable lubricants spill
incidents due to their non toxic formulation makes it less worrying and preserves the
environment from an irreversible deterioration. Try to restore the nature as well as difficult
(sometimes impossible) is very expensive. Clearly, disposing of non-toxic and
biodegradable lubricant will protect consumers.
Today, to deserve the name of environmental friendly, a lubricant must possess several
characteristics in different aspects as biodegradability, toxicity, emissions and efficiency.
Vegetable oils, carefully selected esters and polyglycolethers form the bulk of base fluids in
this type of product, generally given the generic name of biodegradable lubricants
5,6,7
.
Esters in general are known as good lubricants
8
, with low volatility, low pour points (-65 C
compared with -15 C for mineral oils), good solubility for additives and high viscosity
indexes. There are several types of biodegradable esters: dibasic esters or diesters, polyol
esters (hindered esters), and phosphate esters. They find applications in engines, gears and
compressors where cleanliness is important and the latter type as a fire-resistant fluid.
Moderate corrosion behaviour is the major drawback. It is recommended to use saturated
natural esters (low iodine value) to formulate biodegradable oils, because they have better
thermal and oxidation stability.
Lubricants based on vegetable oils still comprise a narrow segment; however, they are
finding their way into such applications as chainsaw bar lubricants, drilling muds and oils,
straight metalworking fluids, food industry lubricants, open gear oils, biodegradable grease,
hydraulic fluids, marine oils and outboard engine lubricants, oils for water and
underground pumps, rail flange lubricants, shock absorber lubricants, tractor oils,
agricultural equipment lubricants, elevator oils, mould release oils, two stroke engine
lubricants and other. Volatility or viscosity index being cited the most often, vegetable oils
clearly outperform mineral oils. Many of the other properties are similar between the fluids
or may be manipulated with additives. However, low resistance to oxidative degradation
and poor low temperature properties are major issues for vegetable oils.
The lubricant industrys inability to overcome these limitations ignited a rapid rise in
demand of highly biodegradable synthetic basestocks as low molecular weight poly a-
olefins (PAO 2 or PAO 4, essentially 20:1 and 10:1 mixtures of hydrogenated dimers:trimers
of alpha-decene), di alkyl adipates (iso decyl, iso tridecyl) or polyol esters (mostly neopentyl
glycol or trimethylol propane with fatty acids). The synthetic basestocks also have some
imperfections, such as higher volatility of PAOs, seal swelling of adipates, questionable
biodegradability of some polyols, and, frequently the major issue, costs of nearly three times
higher than that of vegetable oils
9
.
Polyalphaolefin fluids are enjoying a growing market share as synthetic base stocks. They are
manufactured by the oligomerization of 1-decene, followed by hydrogenation and
distillation into different viscosity grades. Applications range from hydraulic fluids to car

5
Carnes K. University Tests Biodegradable Soy-Based Railroad Lubricant, Harts Lubricantes world
1998, Vol. September, pp 45-47.
6
Glancey J.L., Knowlton S., Benson E.R. Development of a High-Oleic Soybean Oil-based Hydraulic
Fluid, Lubricants World 1999, Vol. January, pp 49-51.
7
Rajewski T.E., Fokens J.S., Watson M.C., The development and Application of Syntetic Food Grade
Lubricants, Tribology, 2000, Vol 1, pp 83-89.
8
W. J. Bartz: Comparison of Synthetic Fluids, Lub. Eng., 1992, 48, (10), 765-774.
9
S.Z.Erhan: Lubricant basestocks from vegetable oils, Industrial Crops and Products 11 (2000) 277
282


374
motor oils
10,11,12
.They have excellent thermal, oxidative and hydrolytic stabilities. Recently, it
has been reported that 2cSt and 4cSt PAO fluids are easily biodegradable, so they can be
used in environmentally sensitive applications
13
.
From the Polyglycol side only Polyethyleneglycols (PEG) with mol-weights lower than 2000
are relatively good biodegradable, but water-soluble, means they migrate into the soil after
an oil accident or via leakages. Polypropylenes (PPG) are not water-soluble but not easily
biodegradable substance. Furthermore PAGs are only partly or even not miscible with
esters, mineral oils, etc. But the compatibility of all the fluids is an absolutely neccesary item
in case of re-filling or replacement of mineral oil by biodegradable fluids.The polyglycol
used in this study (of about 320cSt of viscosity at 40C) is not biodegradable.
There is still a priority to formulate high performance biodegradable lubricants. The main
limitation to introduce bio-degradable lubricants is the lack of knowledge of the
performance of the biolubricants. A review of the state of the art has been developed to
check the status of condition monitoring in mineral and biodegradable oils and
greases
14,15,16
. Results indicated that there is hardly any documentation (application note,
technical papers, standards) concerning how to tackle bio-lubricants. Also, documentation
concerning how to perform a condition monitoring of greases is hardly non-existant. The
procedures and test methods to detect contaminants has been developed for mineral based
lubricants, but new procedures has to be developed for environmentally friendly lubricants.
In order to assess this performance, it is important to understand how degradation
processes occurs at biodegradable fluids
17,18,19
and identify adequate control parameters,
limits and sampling frequency (or re-greasing frequency). Apart from hydraulic fluids
20
,
there is no information about how to efficiently handle the monitoring of biodegradable
lubricants.
Table 1.1shows the status in the definition of parameters, limits and sample frequencies at
different lubricant types (lubricating oils and greases and biodegradable lubricating oils and
greases). The OK sign () indicates that the field (parameters, limits and sample frequencies)

10
C-X. Xiong: The structure and Activity of Polyalphaolefins as Pour-Point Depressants, Lub. Eng.,
1993, 49, (3), 196-200.
11
G Kumar: New Polyalphaolefin Fluids for specialty applications, Lub. Eng., 1993, 49, (x), 723-725.
12
R. L. Shubkin: Polyalphaolefins: Meeting the Challenge for High-Performance Lubrication, Lub.
Eng., 1994, 50, (x), 196-201.
13
J. F. Carpenter: Biodegradability of Polyalphaolefin (PAO) Basestocks, Lub. Eng., 1994, 50, (5), 359-
362.
14
M.K. Williamson The emerging Role of Oil analysis in Enterprise-Wide decision making. Practicig
Oil analysis 2000. pp. 187-200.
15
Lubricants and lubrication. T. Mang, W. Dresel (Eds). Wiley-VCH. 2001
16
Lubricating grease guide. Fourth Edition. National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI)
17
A. Adhvaryu, Oxidation kinetics studies of oils derived from unmodified and genetically modified
vegetables using pressurized differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy. Thermochimica Acta, 364, 87-97. 2000
18
N.J. Fox, A.K. Simpson, G.W. Stachowiak, Sealed Capsule Differential Scanning Calorimetry-An
Effective Method for Screening the oxidation Stability of vegetable oil formulations. Lubrication
Engineering, 57, 14-20. 2001
19
A. Adhvaryu, Tribological studies of thermally and Chemically modified vegetable oils use as
environmentally friendly lubricants. Wear, 257, 359-367, 2004
20
F.Novotny-Farkas, P. Kotal, W. Bohme. Condition monitoring of biodegradable lubricants. World
Tribology Congress. Vienna. 2001


375
has already been properly defined and all aspects of these fields have been put into practice.
The OK sign and plus mark (/+) indicates that some studies have been carried out,
however a improvement of the definition is necessary. The plus sign (+) indicates the field
that we are trying to improve by means of this study. A high advance has been obtained in
the work of obtaining a proper definition of each of fields. The question mark (?) indicates
that there is not any adequate definition of the field and it is not going to obtain by means of
this study.

Table 1. Knowledge of parameters that have to be measured, limits and sample frequencies
at lubricating oils, biodegradable lubricating oils, lubricating greases and biodegradable
lubricating greases.
The development of the technology on different areas such as manufacturing, electronic
and nanotechnology has allow us to develop new devices for improving the lubricants
control and has opened an wide range of research areas. The main objectives of these
developments are the following: to avoid the lubricant degradation by means of the use of
filters or additives and to control on-line the condition of the lubricant by means of
sensors
21,22
.
This chapter includes a first proposal for the condition monitoring strategy developments of
biolubricants (BIOMON Project contract NCOOP-CT-2004-508208) and some results
concerning the potential of porous materials for trapping oxidation molecules of the
biolubricants during use for lengthening their lifetime instead of traditional antioxidant
additives (SOILCYProject contract N515848).
2. Degradation mechanism of biolubricants and analytical techniques used
for biolubricants monitoring
A commercial hydraulic fluid (ISO VG 68/MP=Multi-purpose) which is currently in use for
roller bearing purposes has been used in this study as fully formulated mineral oil. EP
additives but no antioxidants have been included in its formulation. Secondly, a
biodegradable nearly fully saturated ester has been developed in order to study its
oxidation process. EP & antioxidant additives have been included in the formulation of the
biodegradable oil.

21
Arnaiz, A., Aranzabe, A., Terradillos, J., Merino, S., Aramburu, I.: New micro-sensor systems to
monitor on-line oil degradation, Comadem 2004. pp. 466-475
22

Kristiansen, P., Leeker, R.: U.S.Navys in-line oil analysis program, , lubr. Fluid powerj. 3, 312, aug
2001.


376
2.1. Degradation mechanism
One of the important modes of lubricant degradation is oxidation. Oxidation products are
the primary cause of metal corrosion, viscosity increase and sludge and varnish formation in
lubrication systems. It is well-known that a lubricant when exposed to air at high
temperatures undergoes a series of chain reactions that form peroxides, which upon further
reaction produce low molecular weight products (products of the same or lower molecular
weight than the original oil). The LMW products are a mixture of ketones, aldehydes,
alcohols and acids. These primary oxidation products can polymerize to form higher
molecular weight (HMW) viscous liquids, sludge and varnish.
Some studies of the oxidation mechanism of the vegetable oils reveal that the oxidation
mechanism may be presented as a free radical chain reaction. It consists of four distinct
reaction steps: initiation, propagation, branching and ending. These steps have been
analyzed.
The initiation step consists of forming free radical derived from R substance that undertake
the peroxidation and it takes place due the high transformation energy, UV light of the
mechanical shear stresses applied to a molecule. The appearance of the free radicals is due
to one or more external factors (high temperature, moisture, pressure, oxygen presence) or
internal factors (easily oxidable impurities, for instance: aromatic diphenol compounds).
Under certain conditions the external factors produce the O
2
activation and the development
of some reactive elements and radicals. Although the radicals of the oxygen may
accidentally appear, the reactions that release them are enough to initiate the formation of
some free radicals from the initial organic substances.
The propagation step consists in the continuation of forming free radicals especially of the
derived peroxides from the substance that bear the oxidation progress. The first propagation
step involves an alkyl radical reacting with oxygen to form an alkyl peroxy radical (ROO
.
).
The second propagation step is the hydrogen abstraction from a hydrocarbon molecule by
an alkyl peroxy-radical to form a hydroperoxide and another alkyl radical.Generally the
alkyl peroxy radicals are in a greater concentration than the alkyl radicals. This is due to the
combination between high oxygen concentration with alkyl radical rather than the slow
reaction rate of alkyl peroxy radical with hydrocarbon.
The chain branching steps begin with the decomposition of hydroperoxide (ROOH) in alkoxy
radicals and hydroxy radical. This reaction has a great activation energy and the alkoxy and
hydroxy radicals can react on with hydrocarbons to form more alkyl radicals, alcohols and
water. Secondary and tertiary alkoxy radicals, will form aldehydes and ketones respectively.
These condense via acid catalysed aldol reactions can lead to polymeric degradated
products.
The ending step may take place by the combination of the alkyl radicals. Two alkyl radicals
can combine to form a hydrocarbon molecule. Alternatively, an alkyl radical may combine
with an alkyl peroxy radical (ROO.) to form a peroxide or two alkyl peroxy radicals (2ROO
.
)
(ROOR
.
).
2.2 Oxidation tests
Oxidation tests can be differentiated into two groups: one kind of tests describe the
condition of the lubricant after a defined test period by measuring several aging indicating
parameters like acid number, viscosity change and sludge formation. The 1000-h TOST
according to DIN 51587 and IP 280 oxidation test are examples for that kind of tests.
Another group of oxidation tests measure the so-called induction time (time from the


377
beginning of the oxidation to the autocatalytic phase of the autoxidation) by recording
constantly or after defined periods of time the aging indicating parameters. Typical
examples of this group are the lifetime TOST test according to ASTM-D 943 or the rotary
bomb test (ASTM-D 2272) where the drop of oxygen pressure indicates the aging of the
lubricant. More recently the high pressure differential scanning Calorimetry (HPDSC) as
well as the sealed capsule differential scanning calorimetry (SCDSC) has been applied more
and more to measure the stability of different antioxidants and formulations.
These tests for lubricants are a function of temperature or other parameters. These aging
tests are carried out on base oils as well as fully formulated products to test the efficiency of
additives. There is a big variety of standardized test methods where we have duration of
test between hours and months. The majority of these tests is based on exposing the test
fluids to oxygen or air at relatively high temperatures in presence of catalyst metals to
increase oxidation rates and to reduce the testing period. Oxidation stability is assessed by
quantitative determination of oxidation products, oxygen absorption, viscosity changes,
change in acidity or formation of sludge.
The TOST (turbine oxidation stability test) is used to evaluate the oxidation stability of
inhibited steam turbine oils in presence of oxygen, water, copper and iron catalyst at 95C.
The test is continued until the total acid number (TAN) measured reaches at least 2.0 mg/g
KOH. The number of test hours required for the oil to reach 2.0 mg/g KOH is the oxidation
lifetime of an oil.
The oxidation stability by rotary bomb test (ASTM D 2272) oxidizes the oil at 150C in
presence of water, metallic copper catalyst and oxygen at 620 kPa pressure. The time is
registered to reach a specific pressure drop and this is an indication of the oxidation stability.
The aging test according to Baader (DIN 51554) is an oxidation test of atmospheric air and
intermittent immersion of a copper spiral at a test temperature of 95C. After a given time,
the saponification number in mg/g KOH is measured.
For the oxidation stability of lubricating greases by oxygen bomb method grease is oxidized
in a bomb heated to 99C and filled with oxygen at 110 psig. After a defined time, the drop
of pressure is recorded. The degree of oxidation after a given period of time is determined
by the corresponding decrease of oxygen pressure.
In the table below equivalent standards are grouped together which are identical or
technically equivalent respectively
23
.
New biodegradable polyol ester base stocks formulated with the appropriate ashless
additive technology outperform vegetable oils both hydrolytically and oxidatively and
modified versions of the ASTM D 943 and D2274 tests, in which no water is employed have
shown that they are very suitable for the evaluation of the long-term oxidative stability of
biodegradable polyol esters
24
.
Tekniker proposes the development of a new oxidation procedure for biodegradable
lubricants because this kind of oils needs higher temperatures for degradation. Based on
Tekniker experience, it is proposed a new oxidation test running in a bath reactor (figure 1)
at 120C with stirring, air flux and without presence of water and catalyst.

23
Mang, T. y Dresel, W. (eds.), Lubricants and Lubrication, 2 edicin, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim (2007).
24
C.Duncan (2002), Lubrication Engineering, Ashless Additives and New Polyol Ester Base Oils
Formulated for Use in Biodegradable Hydraulic Fluid Applications


378
AFNOR ASTM DIN IP ISO Test method
51352t1 48
Determination of oxidation
characteristics of lubricating oil
51554
characteristics of lubricating oil acc.to
Baader
280
Determination of oxidation stability
of inhibited mineral turbine oils
T60-150 D943 51587 4263
of inhibited mineral oils
D2893 51586
characteristics of extreme-pressure
lubricating oils
D4742
Oxidation stability of gasoline engine
oils by thin film oxygen uptake
(TFOUT)
D2274 229
Determination of the relative
oxidation stability by rotating bomb
of mineral turbine oil
D942 51808 142
of lubricating grease- oxygen bomb
method
Table 2. Equivalent oxidation standards

Fig. 1. Oxidation reactor


379
The table 3 shows the advantages of the oxidation procedure proposed for biolubricants
compared with the oxidation standard procedure for mineral lubricants.

Heterogeneous samples are taken due to the
absence of stirring
Homogeneous samples are taken due to the
presence of stirring
Long degradation time due to the
temperature of the test.
Shorter degradation time due to the
temperature of the test
Heterogeneous samples are taken due to the
absence of stirring
Homogeneous samples are taken due to the
presence of stirring
Table 3. Oxidation standards
2.3 Analytical techniques used for biolubricants monitoring
Oxidation is a major source for viscosity increase, acid number increase or corrosion,
additive depletions, dispersant failures, base oil deterioration, varnish and sludge
formation, filter plugging, oil darkening, as well as many of the wear root causes. For this
reason, there have been many analytical techniques to evaluate the oxidation state of the
lubricant.
The table 4 shows the chemical, tribological and environmental analysis selected for
monitoring biolubricants.
The chemical analysis includes the following parameters: Acid Number (ASTM D 974-04),
Viscosity at 40C (ASTM D 445), Density (PE-5053-AI), Emulsification Capacity (ASTM D
1401), DSC (PE-5035-AI), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) (PE-5008-AI),
Remaining Useful Life Number (RULER) (PE-TA.090) and %Solids. Sliding tests has been
selected in the tribological field. Finally, in accordance with the European Ecolabel for
lubricants, the following environmental analyses have been selected: Ready
Biodegradability according to OECD 301F Test, Inherent Biodegradability according to
OECD 302B Test and Toxicity according to OECD 202 Test.

Table 4. Analytical techniques for biolubricants monitoring


380
2.3.1 Chemical analysis
2.3.1.1 Acid number (ASTM D974-04)
Both in new lubricants and in-service lubricants, acidic constituents will appear, either in the
form of additives or as a result of the oxidation of lubricant. The Acid Number test method
is a measurement of the quantity of those acidic constituents. Measurement has been by
titration which estimates the amount of KOH which is necessary to neutralize the acid
compounds of the oil).
2.3.1.2 Viscosity at 40C (ASTM D445)
The viscosity remains the most important property of the oil as part of the oil condition
monitoring. Viscosity measurements have been done following ASTM D 445 standard.
In general, the variation of oil viscosity can be caused by:
- The increase of viscosity results from the oxidation and/or polymerization of the oil,
evaporation of the most light fractions even water presence or insoluble oxides
formation.
- The decrease of viscosity may be due to thermal cracking of the molecules of the
lubricant, or shear stress from the viscosity modifiers....
2.3.1.3 Density (PE-5053-AI)
Density is the mass of a unit volume of a substance. Its numerical value varies with the units
used. A high level of oxidation and/or polymerization of the oil, causes an increase in
density values.
2.3.1.4 Emulsification capacity (ASTM D1401)
This test method measures the ability of petroleum oils or synthetic fluids to separate from
water. This test provides a guide for determining the water separation characteristics of oils
subject to water contamination and turbulence. It is used for specification of new oils and
monitoring of in-service oils.
2.3.1.5 Differential scanning calorimetry (PE-5035-AI)
Samples are tested at extreme conditions of temperature, pressure and in an oxidative
environment. Remaining useful life can be determined concerning the oxidative stability. At
constant temperature, the lubricant degradation takes place at a time called onset time,
with its corresponding heat exchange. This value can give an idea of the oil stability.
2.3.1.6 Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (PE-5008-AI)
The IR Spectroscopy is a well known technique for analysing the chemical properties of the
oil such as oxidation products or additives.
2.3.1.7 Remaining useful life. RULER. (PE-TA.90)
The RULER (Remaining Useful Life) is a useful parameter to control the antioxidants
consumption in biodegradable oils.
The voltammetric test results are based on current, voltage and time relationships at the 3-
electrode sensing system with a small, easily polarized microelectrode, and a large non-
polarizable reference electrode. In performing a voltammetric analysis, the potential across
the electrodes varies linearly with time (from 0 to 1.7 V at a rate of 0.1 V/second), and the
resulting current is recorded as a function of the potential. With increased voltage to the
sample in the cell, the various dissolved antioxidants oxidize electrochemically resulting in
an oxidation reaction that can be used to predict the remaining useful life of the oil.


381
2.3.2 Tribological analysis
2.3.2.1 Sliding tests (DIN 51834-2)
With the SRV tribometer reciprocating sliding tests in standard conditions using AISI 52100
steel standard balls and discs can be useful for finding any difference in the behavior of new
and aged oils based on the results of friction (COF) and wear obtained during the
tribological tests.
2.3.3 Environmental analysis
2.3.3.1 Ready biodegradability (OECD 301F)
If a chemical gives positive in this test will undergo rapid an ultimate biodegradation
(CO
2
+H
2
O) in the environment and no further work on the biodegradability on the
chemical, or on the possible environmental effects of biodegradation products, normally is
required. Ultimate biodegradation within 28 days higher than 60% according to OECD 301
F.
2.3.3.2 Toxicity algae, daphnia (OECD 201, OECD 202).
The level al which 50% of the test organisms show an adverse (lethal) effect.
Exponentially-growing cultures of selected green algae or certain percentage of daphnia are
exposed to various concentrations of the test substance under defined conditions. The
inhibition of growth in relation to a control culture or the inhibition of the capability of
swimming of daphnia is determined over a fixed period.
The 50% effect level (EC50) is chosen, the level at which 50% of the test organisms show an
adverse (lethal) effect.
2.4 Identification of main condition monitoring patterns
Regarding traditional lubricating oils, all condition monitoring parameters, limits and
sample frequencies have been already established at different studies. However, there is not
a clear rule of thumb, as small variations occurs in limits and sampling frequencies. Given
this, the knowledge has been obtained through extensive usage occurred at WearCheck
Ibrica Laboratories, which has helped to obtain enough expertise to study all condition
monitoring fields.
Regarding biodegradable lubricating oil parameters that have to be measured, an extensive
tribological and physico-chemical comparison has been performed between normal and bio-
degradable lubricants, in order to assess their conditions. The tests have demonstrated a
superior working life-time for bio-degradable lubricants with respect to traditional ones that
is mostly reflected in a much higher AN limit allowed for operation.
As a result, similar parameters have been defined as of primary control. However, there are
two important additions. The Ruler is a parameter for on site measurement of remaining
useful lifetime of the oil. The analysis performed show that rules offer a quite reliable
information on usage of the oil and can complement the information indicated by AN.
Also, the % of Solids parameter is a very useful parameter. However, it is very hard and
expensive to measure and in the near future work the % of Solids parameter have to be
eliminated to the monitoring routine and must be found a new parameter cheaper and
easier to use it in the monitoring routine.
Of course, these are main parameters and limits. Depending on the type of lubricant and its
application and the test cost, other parameters could be useful for mineral oils monitoring,


382
and biodegradable oils. For engine oils for example, it could be necessary to analyse Base
Number (BN) parameter. The work should be completed with a complete identification of
sample frequencies.

Fig. 2. Parameters, monitor and warning limits, sample frequencies and analytical
equipment for mineral oils.

Fig. 3. Limits and parameters for biodegradable oils.
3. New materials for enlarge biolubricantslifetime
One of the main concerns of lubricants is their performance which is improved using
additives. The use of additives allows increasing the performance and physical properties of
oil but they also increase the cost of lubricants and may even be harmful to health or
environment.


383
Adsorption in a porous material of oxidation products from a biodegradable lubricant is a
promising approach to improve the performance of biolubricants in an environmentally
friendly way. Antioxidant additives are commonly used to improve performance of
biolubricants but they are expensive and even may be harmful. The development of a
sieve able to trap oxidation products may be a way to reduce or avoid the use of
additives.
In our investigation, different oxidized samples of biolubricants obtained from the
degradation process of TMP-trioleate have been characterized and the oxidation molecules
to be trapped have been identified. The most suitable nanoporous material to trap the
identified oxidation molecules has been selected. To do this the adsorption of biolubricant
oxidation molecules in a nanoporous material has been examined by means of Monte Carlo
(MC) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) computational methods and by means of Differential
Scanning Calorimetry .
Among the different framework types BEA, MFI, LTL and FAU zeolitic structures were
selected due to their suitable pore size of molecular dimensions. All of them present an
extensive channel network with elliptical or circular shape and cross section ranging from
0.5 and 0.8 nm. Besides, structural criteria, different compositions have been selected in
order to analyze the effect of the physico-chemical properties of the solid surfaces
(functional groups, acidity, hydrophilicity,).
It deserves to note that from the point of view of the composition, extremely hydrophobic
materials with high silica content such as Silicalite-1, or highly hydrophilic materials with
relatively low silica content such as zeolite x, have been considered.
Prior to their use all the materials were dried and activated trough a thermal treatment
using an exposure times of 2 h and temperatures of 150 or 300 C. Since crystal structure and
grain size and morfology influences on total porosity of the material surface area of all the
samples were measured after activation with a NOVA 1200e surface area and pore size
analyzer from Quantachrome Instruments. Total surface area was computed according to
BET Method.
3.1 Oxidation conditions
In order to analyze the capacity of the selective adsorption of oxidation by-products with
nanoporous materials and predict the lubricating oil oxidation state, the Differential Scanning
Calorimetry (DSC) analytical technique has been used. The experimental procedure consists
on an analyzed sample heating it with a programmed temperature-time sequence: 3C/min
heating from 100C at 600C at 20 bar of pressure.
The oxidation method was described previously. The oxidation conditions were the
following: 1.5 l of TMP-trioleate in a bath reactor at 95C with stirring, air flux and without
presence of water and catalyst.
The analytical parameters monitorized were the following: Acid Number (ASTM D 974-04),
DSC (PE-5035-AI), Fourier Transform Infrarred Spectroscopy (FTIR) (PE-5008-AI) and
Density (PE-5053-AI). Besides that, the oxidation molecules identification at different hours
of oxidation has been made by GCMS and HPLC.
After testing the capacity of different nanoporous materials, the most suitable has been
tested with the TMP-trioleate at 95C with stirring, air flux and without presence of water
and catalyst.


384
3.2 MD simulations
Molecular Dynamics (MD) has been used to study the interaction between the identified
oxidation molecules and the selected nanoporous material. Results of the ability of the
proposed material as absorbing media in terms of molecules per unit computational cell and
preferred absorption sites are obtained.
The simulations were performed at established conditions of pressure a temperature using
the grand canonical and the NPT ensemble. Results of the ability of the proposed material as
absorbing media in terms of molecules per unit computational cell and preferred adsorption
sites are obtained.
3.3 Porous materials validation
The hydrophilic and hydrophobic solids have showed the best performance trapping the
oxidation molecules of TMP-trioleate. After testing the capacity of different nanoporous
materials, the most suitable has been tested with the TMP-trioleate at 95C with stirring, air
flux and without presence of water and catalyst. The chemical parameter which shows the
effectiveness of the tested solid is Acid Number (AN). The following figure shows the trend
of this parameter during the oxidation process. As it shows, both solids hydrophilic and
hydrophobic one, delay the oxidation process of the oil due, these solids trap in their pores
the acid compounds generated during the oxidation.

Fig. 4. AN values trend in TMP-Trioleate oxidized with and without solid.
4. Conclusions
In this chapter it has been exposed two main research works; the first one is a proposal for
the condition monitoring strategy for biolubricants. In this sense two oils, mineral and
biodegrable; have been oxidized under a new oxidation procedure, based on Tekniker


385
experience, which provide more advantage than traditional tests. Thanks to the chemical,
tribological and environmental analyses monitor and warning limits can be proposed for
bio-oil.
As it can be sawn these limits are different as traditional limits for mineral oils, what is
mean that biodegradable oils shows different oxidations trends and traditional limits used
for mineral oils are nor accurate for these kind of biolubricants:
Kinetic degradation reaction of biodegradable lubricants is differently than mineral oils
and a specific maintenance approach is needed.
DSC is a useful tool for studying the kinetic parameters of the new formulations.
Important research must be carried out to establish warning limits for biolubricants in
order to develop condition monitoring strategies, assessment in mechanical
components lubricated with biodegradable fluids.
In the standard tribological wear tests there is a direct relationship between aging hours
and friction peaks. This test can be useful in the condition monitoring strategy.
The second research work exposed is the use of nanoporous materials as tramp for
oxidation compounds instead to use antioxidant additives in the bio oil formulation
Antioxidant additives are commonly used to improve performance of biolubricants but they
are expensive and even may be harmful. The development of a sieve able to trap oxidation
products may be a way to reduce or avoid the use of additives. Adsorption in a porous
material of oxidation products from a biodegradable lubricant is a promising approach to
improve the performance of biolubricants in an environmentally friendly way.
The use of biodegradable lubricants will reduce problems on disposal. The
biodegradability in use must be tested in these types of friendly formulations.
The uses of hydrophilic solids delay oil oxidation, due the trap oxidation molecules.
Acid Number (AN) seems to be a useful analytical technique for evaluate solid
efficiency
5. References
Product Reviews: Liquid waste disposal and Recovery - Lubricant Recycling , Ind. Lub.
Trib., 1994, 46, (4), 18-26.
The Need For Biodegradable Lubricants, Ind. Lubr. and Trib., 1992, 44, (4), 6-7.
Ecological Criteria for the award of the Community ecolabel to lubricants-
Regulatory committee of the European Parliament and of the Council- 2005
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the council concerning the Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation and Restrictions of Chemicals.
Carnes K. University Tests Biodegradable Soy-Based Railroad Lubricant, Harts
Lubricantes world 1998, Vol. September, pp 45-47.
Glancey J.L., Knowlton S., Benson E.R. Development of a High-Oleic Soybean Oil-based
Hydraulic Fluid, Lubricants World 1999, Vol. January, pp 49-51.
Rajewski T.E., Fokens J.S., Watson M.C., The development and Application of Syntetic
Food Grade Lubricants, Tribology, 2000, Vol 1, pp 83-89.
W. J. Bartz: Comparison of Synthetic Fluids, Lub. Eng., 1992, 48, (10), 765-774.
S.Z.Erhan: Lubricant basestocks from vegetable oils, Industrial Crops and Products 11
(2000) 277282


386
C-X. Xiong: The structure and Activity of Polyalphaolefins as Pour-Point Depressants,
Lub. Eng., 1993, 49, (3), 196-200.
G Kumar: New Polyalphaolefin Fluids for specialty applications, Lub. Eng., 1993, 49, (x),
723-725.
R. L. Shubkin: Polyalphaolefins: Meeting the Challenge for High-Performance
Lubrication, Lub. Eng., 1994, 50, (x), 196-201.
J. F. Carpenter: Biodegradability of Polyalphaolefin (PAO) Basestocks, Lub. Eng., 1994, 50,
(5), 359-362.
M.K. Williamson The emerging Role of Oil analysis in Enterprise-Wide decision making.
Practicig Oil analysis 2000. pp. 187-200.
Lubricants and lubrication. T. Mang, W. Dresel (Eds). Wiley-VCH. 2001
Lubricating grease guide. Fourth Edition. National Lubricating Grease Institute (NLGI
A. Adhvaryu, Oxidation kinetics studies of oils derived from unmodified and
genetically modified vegetables using pressurized differential scanning
calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Thermochimica
Acta, 364, 87-97. 2000
N.J. Fox, A.K. Simpson, G.W. Stachowiak, Sealed Capsule Differential Scanning
Calorimetry-An Effective Method for Screening the oxidation Stability of vegetable
oil formulations. Lubrication Engineering, 57, 14-20. 2001
A. Adhvaryu, Tribological studies of thermally and Chemically modified vegetable oils use
as environmentally friendly lubricants. Wear, 257, 359-367, 2004
F.Novotny-Farkas, P. Kotal, W. Bohme. Condition monitoring of biodegradable
lubricants. World Tribology Congress. Vienna. 2001
Arnaiz, A., Aranzabe, A., Terradillos, J., Merino, S., Aramburu, I.: New micro-sensor
systems to monitor on-line oil degradation, Comadem 2004. pp. 466-475
Kristiansen, P., Leeker, R.: U.S.Navys in-line oil analysis program, , lubr. Fluid powerj. 3, 3
12, aug 2001.
C.Duncan (2002), Lubrication Engineering, Ashless Additives and New Polyol Ester Base
Oils Formulated for Use in Biodegradable Hydraulic Fluid Applications
20
A Fuzzy Water Quality Index for Watershed
Quality Analysis and Management
Andr Lermontov
1,2
, Lidia Yokoyama
1
,
Mihail Lermontov
3
and Maria Augusta Soares Machado
4
1
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
2
Grupo guas do Brasil S/A
3
Universidade Federal Fluminense
4
IBMEC-RJ
Brazil
1. Introduction
Climate change and hydric stress are limiting the availability of clean water.
Overexploitation of natural resources has led to environmental unbalance. Present decisions
relative to the management of hydric resources will deeply affect the economy and our
future environment. The use of indicators is a good alternative for the evaluation of
environmental behavior as well as a management instrument, as long as the conceptual and
structural parameters of the indicators are respected.
The use of fuzzy logic to study the influence and the consequences of environmental
problems has increased significantly in recent years. According to Silvert (1997), most
activities, either natural of anthropic, have multiple effects and any environmental index
should offer a consistent meaning as well as a coherent quantitative and qualitative
appraisal of all these effects.
Among the several reasons for applying fuzzy logic to complex situations, the most
important is probably the need to combine different indicators. Maybe the most significant
advantage of the use of fuzzy logic for the development of environmental indicators is that
it combines different aspects with much more flexibility than other methods, such as, for
example, binary indices of the kind acceptable vs. unacceptable.
Methods to integrate several variables related to water quality in a specific index are
increasingly needed in national and international scenarios. Several authors have integrated
water quality variables into indices, technically called Water Quality Indices (WQIs) (Bolton
et al., 1978; Bhargava, 1983; House, 1989; Mitchell, 1996; Pesce and Wunderlin, 1999; Cude,
2001; Liou et al., 2004; Said et al., 2004; Silva and Jardim, 2006; Nasiri et al., 2007). Most are
based in a concept developed by the U. S. National Sanitation Foundation (NSF, 2007).
There is an obvious need for more advanced techniques to assess the importance of water
quality variables and to integrate the distinct parameters involved. In this context, new,
alternative integration methods are being developed. Artificial Intelligence has thus become
a tool for modeling water quality (Chau, 2006). Traditional methodologies cannot classify
and quantify environmental effects of a subjective nature or even provide formalism for


388
dealing with missing data. Fuzzy Logic can combine these different approaches. In this
context new methodologies for the management of environmental variables are being
developed (Silvert, 1997, 2000).
The main purpose of this research is to propose a new water quality index, called Fuzzy
Water Quality Index (INQA ndice Nebuloso de Qualidade da gua, originally in
Portuguese), to be computed using Fuzzy Logic and Fuzzy Inference tools. A second goal is
to compare statistically the INQA with other indices suggested in the literature using data
from hydrographic surveys of four different watersheds, in So Paulo State, Brazil, from
2004 to 2006 (CETESB, 2004, 2005, 2006).
2. Background
2.1 Water quality indices
The purpose of an index is not to describe separately a pollutant's concentration or the
changes in a certain parameter. To synthesize a complex reality in a single number is the
biggest challenge in the development of a water quality index (IQA ndice de Qualidade
de gua, originally in Portuguese), since it is directly affected by a large number of
environmental variables. Therefore, a clear definition of the goals to be attained by the use
of such an index is needed. The formulation of a IQA may be simplified if one considers
only the variables which are deemed critical for a certain water body. Among their
advantages, indices facilitate communication with lay people. They are considered more
trustful than isolated variables. They also integrate several variables in a single number,
combining different units of measurement.
In a groundbreaking work, Horton (1965) developed general water quality indices, selecting
and weighting several parameters. This methodology was then improved by the U.S.
National Sanitation Foundation (NSF, 2007). The conventional way to obtain a IQA is to
compute the weighted average of some predefined parameters, normalized in a scale from 0
to 100 and multiplied by their respective weights.
Conesa (1995) modified the traditional method and created another index, called Subjective
Water Quality Index (IQA
sub
), that includes a subjective constant, k. This constant assumes
values between 0.25 and 1.00 at intervals of 0.25, with 0.25 representing polluted water and
1.00 a not polluted one. The parameters used to calculate this index (eq. 1) must be
previously normalized using curves given by Conesa (1995). The Objective Water Quality
Index (IQA
obj
) results from the elimination of the subjective constant k.
IQA
sub
=
x
i i
i
i
i
C P
k
P
(1)
where:
k is the subjective constant (0,25, 0,50, 0,75 and 1,00);
C
i
the value of the i
th
normalized parameter (Conesa, 1995);
P
i
the relative weight of the i
th
parameter (Conesa, 1995).
The Brazilian IQA is an adaptation from the NSF index. Nine variables, being the most
relevant for water quality evaluation, are computed as the weighted product (eq. 2) of the
normalized values of these variables, n
i
: Temperature (TEMP), pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO),
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD
5
), Thermotolerant Coliforms (TC), Dissolved Inorganic
Nitrogen (DIN), Total Phosphorus (TP), Total Solids (TS) and Turbidity (T). Each parameter

A Fuzzy Water Quality Index for Watershed Quality Analysis and Managemen

389
is weighted by a value w
i
between 0 and 1 and the sum of all weights is 1. The result is
expressed by a number between 0 and 100, divided in 5 quality ranges: (100 - 79) - Excellent
Quality; (79 - 51) - Good Quality; (51 - 36) - Fair Quality; (36 - 19) - Poor Quality; [19 - 0] -
Bad Quality, normalization curves for each variable, as well as the respective weights, are
available in the So Paulos State Water Quality Reports (CETESB, 2004, 2005 and 2006).
IQA
CETESB =
1
IQA q
i
n
i
i
w

(2)
Silva and Jardim (2006) used the concept of minimum operator to develop their index, called
Water Quality Index for protection of aquatic life (IQA
PAL
). The IQA
PAL
(eq. 3) is based on
only two parameters, Total Ammonia (TA) and Dissolved Oxygen (DO):
IQA
PAL
= min (TA
n
, DO
n
) (3)
A fourth index, called IQA
min
, proposed by Pesce and Wunderlin (2000), is the arithmetic
mean (eq. 4) of three environmental parameters, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Turbidity (T) and
Total Phosphorus (TP), normalized using Conesa's curves (Conesa, 1995).
IQA
min
=
DO+T+TP
3
(4)
Other indices are found in the literature and will not be considered in this study (Bordalo et
al., 2001; SDD, 1976; Stambuk Giljanovic, 1999).
2.2 Fuzzy inference
One of the research fields involving Artificial Intelligence - AI is fuzzy logic, originally
conceived as a way to represent intrinsically vague or linguistic knowledge. It is based on
the mathematics of fuzzy sets (Zadeh, 1965). Fuzzy inference is the result of the combination
of fuzzy logic with expert systems (Yager, 1994). The commonest models used to represent
the process of classification of water bodies are called deterministic conceptual models. They
are deterministic because they ignore the stochastic properties of the process and conceptual
because they try to give a physical interpretation to the several subprocesses involved.
These models often use a large number of parameters, making modeling a complex and time
demanding task (Barreto, 2001).
Models based on fuzzy rules are seen as adequate tools to represent uncertainties and
inaccuracies in knowledge and data. These models can represent qualitative aspects of
knowledge and human inference processes without a precise quantitative analysis. They
are, therefore, less accurate than conventional numerical models. However, the gains in
simplicity, computational speed and flexibility that result from the use of these models may
compensate an eventual loss in precision (Brdossy, 1995).
There are at least six reasons why models based on fuzzy rules may be justified: first, they
can be used to describe a large variety of nonlinear relations; second, they tend to be simple,
since they are based on a set of local simple models; third, they can be interpreted verbally
and this makes them analogous to AI models; fourth, they use information that other
methods cannot include, such as individual knowledge and experience; fifth, the fuzzy
approach has a big advantage over other indices, once they have the ability expand and
combine quantitative and qualitative data that expresses the ecological status of a river,


390
allowing to avoid artificial precision and producing results that are more similar to the
ecological complexity and real world problems in a more realistic panorama; and sixth,
fuzzy logic can deal with and process missing data without compromising the final result.
The way systems based on fuzzy rules have been successfully used to model dynamic
systems in other fields of science and engineering suggests that this approach may become
an effective and efficient way to build a meaningful IQA.
Fuzzy inference is the process that maps an input set into an output set using fuzzy logic.
This mapping may be used for decision making or for pattern recognition. The fuzzy
inference process involves four main steps: 1) fuzzy sets and membership functions; 2)
fuzzy set operations; 3) fuzzy logic; and 4) inference rules. These concepts are discussed in
depth in Brdossy (1995), Yen e Langari (1999), Ross (2004), Cruz (2004) and Caldeira et al.
(2007).
The concept of fuzzy sets for modeling water quality was considered by Dahiya (2007),
Nasiri et al. (2007) Chau (2006), Ocampo-Duque et al. (2006), Icaga (2007), and Chang et al.
(2001), Lermontov et al. (2009), Ramesh et al. (2010), Taner et al. (2011).
2.3 Development of the fuzzy water quality index (INQA)
The fuzzy sets were defined in terms of a membership function that maps a domain of
interest to the interval [0,1]. Curves are used to map the membership function of each set.
They show to which degree a specific value belongs to the corresponding set (eq. 5):
A : X [0,1] (5)
Trapezoidal and triangular membership functions (Figure 1) are used in this study, for the
same nine parameters used by CETESB to calculate its IQA, so that this methodology can be
statistically compared and validated. The data shown in Tables 1 and 2 are used according
to Figure 1 to create the fuzzy sets:

Fig. 1. Trapezoidal and triangular membership function.
In a rule based fuzzy system, a linguistic description is attributed to each set. The sets are then
named according to a perceived degree of quality, that ranges from very excellent to very bad
(Tables 1 and 2). For the parameters temperature and pH, two sets for each linguistic variable
are used. Temperature and pH sets have the same linguistic terms above and under the Very
Excellent point while distancing from it. The sets under are marked with a () symbol. The
trapezoidal function is only used for the Very Excellent linguistic variable and the triangular
for all others. This study uses the linguistic model of fuzzy inference, where the input data set,
the water quality variables, called antecedents, are processed using linguistic if/then rules to
yield an output data set, the so-called consequents.


391
Gr01 Gr02 Gr03
Parameter Temperature pH Disolved Biochemical Thermotolerant
Oxigen Oxigen Demand Coliforms
Symbol Temp pH DO BOD Coli
Unit
o
C mg/l mg/l Colonies/100ml
Interval -6 - 45 1 - 14 0 - 9 0 - 30 0 - 18000
Linguistic Variable a b c d a b c d a b c d a b c d a b c d
Very Excellent - VE 15 16 21 22 6.80 6.90 7.10 7.75 7.0 7.5 9.0 9.0 0 0 0.5 2 0 0 1 1
Excellent - E 14 15 16 7.10 7.75 8.25 6.5 7 7.5 0.5 2 3 1 2 3
Excellent - E 21 22 24 6.60 6.80 6.90
Very Good - VG 13 14 15 7.75 8.25 8.50 6 6.5 7 2 3 4 2 3 8
Very Good - VG 22 24 26 6.30 6.60 6.80
Good - G 10 13 14 8.25 8.50 8.75 5 6 6.5 3 4 5 3 8 16
Good - G 24 26 28 6.10 6.30 6.60
Fair/Good - FG 5 10 13 8.50 8.75 9.00 4 5 6 4 5 6 8 16 40
Fair/Good - FG 26 28 30 5.85 6.10 6.30
Fair - F 0 5 10 8.75 9.00 9.20 3.5 4 5 5 6 8 16 40 100
Fair - F 28 30 32 5.60 5.85 6.10
Fair/Bad - FB -2 0 5 9.00 9.20 9.60 3 3.5 4 6 8 12 40 100 300
Fair/Bad - FB 30 32 36 5.20 5.60 5.85
Bad - B -4 -2 0 9.20 9.60 10.00 2 3 3.5 8 12 15 100 300 1000
Bad - B 32 36 40 4.75 5.20 5.60
Very Bad - VB -6 -4 -2 9.60 10.00 10.50 1 2 3 12 15 22 300 1000 6000
Very Bad - VB 36 40 45 4.00 4.75 5.20
Poor - P -6 -6 -4 10.00 10.50 12.00 0 1 2 15 22 30 1000 6000 18000
Poor - P 40 45 45 2.00 4.00 4.75
Very Poor - P -6 -6 -6 10.50 14.00 14.00 0 0 1 22 30 30 6000 18000 18000
Very Poor - P 45 45 45 1.00 1.00 4.00

Table 1. Fuzzy sets and linguistic terms for input parameters of Group 01, 02 and 03

Gr04 Gr05 Group Output
Parameter Dissolved Total Total Solids Turbidity Output
Inorg. Nitrogen Phosphorus
Symbol DIN TP TS Turb
Unit mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l
Interval 0 - 100 0 - 10 0 - 750 0 - 150 0 - 100
Linguistic Variable a b c d a b c d a b c d a b c d a b c d
Very Excellent - VE 0 0 0.5 2 0 0 0.1 0.2 0 0 5 50 0 0 0.5 2.5 0 0 1 10
Excellent - E 0 2 4 0.1 0.2 0.3 0 50 150 0.5 2.5 7.5 0 10 20
Very Good - VG 2 4 6 0.2 0.3 0.4 50 150 250 2.5 7.5 12.5 10 20 30
Good - G 4 6 8 0.3 0.4 0.6 150 250 320 7.5 12.5 22.5 20 30 40
Fair/Good - FG 6 8 10 0.4 0.6 0.8 250 320 400 12.5 22.5 35 30 40 50
Fair - F 8 10 15 0.6 0.8 1 320 400 450 22.5 35 50 40 50 60
Fair/Bad - FB 10 15 25 0.8 1 1.5 400 450 550 35 50 70 50 60 70
Bad - B 15 25 35 1 1.5 3 450 550 600 50 70 95 60 70 80
Very Bad - VB 25 35 50 1.5 3 6 550 600 650 70 95 120 70 80 90
Poor - P 35 50 100 3 6 10 600 650 750 95 120 150 80 90 100
Very Poor - P 50 100 100 6 10 10 650 750 750 120 150 150 90 100 100

Table 2. Fuzzy sets and linguistic terms for input parameters of Group 04 and 05 and output
parameters of all groups


392
Figure 2 shows the flow graph of the process, where the individual quality variables are
processed by inference systems, yielding several groups normalized between 0 and 100. The
groups are then processed for a second time, using a new inference, and the end result is the
Fuzzy Water Quality Index INQA/FWQI.
In the traditional methods used to obtain a IQA, parameters are normalized with the help of
tables or curves and weight factors (Conesa, 1995; Mitchel, 1996; Pesce and Wunderlin, 1999;
CETESB, 2004, 2005 and 2006; NSF, 2007) and then calculated by conventional mathematical
methods, while in this work, parameters are normalized and grouped through a fuzzy
inference system.

Fig. 2. Flow Graph
The NFS formulated the IQA as being a quantitative aggregation of various chosen and
weighted water quality parameters to represent the best professional judgment of 142 expert
respondants into one index (Mitchell, 1996). Working quantitatively with a mathematical
equation, one uses a weight factor to differentiate the importance (weight - inferred and
defined by experts) of each parameter for the outcoming result.
NFS, Brazilian CETESB, Ocampo-Duque et al. (2006), Conessa (1997) and other authors who
proposed IQAs, used different weighting factors depending on the methodology and
presence or absence of a specific monitoring parameter. Silva and Jardim (2006) and Pesce
and Wunderlin (2000) did even not use weighting factors while developing respectively
their IQA
PAL
and IQA
min
.
In a fuzzy inference system a quantitative numerical value is fuzzyfied into a qualitative
state and processed by an inference engine, through rules, sets and operators in a qualitative
sphere, allowing the use of information that other methods cannot include, such as
individual knowledge and experience (Balas et al., 2004), permitting qualitative
environmental parameters and factors to be integrated and processed (Silvert, 2000)
producing similar to the real world results.
A rule in the inference system is a mathematical formalism that translates expert judgment
expressed in linguistic terms (as in NFSs IQA formulation) and therefore is a subjective and
qualitative weight factor in the inference engine. I.e.: Rule 1: if Thermotolerant Coliform is very
high and pH is lower than average than index is very poor; Rule 2: if Thermotolerant Coliform is
very high and pH is excellent than index is poor. One can notice that these rules have been
designed as an expert system and a subjective and qualitative weight factor based on an


393
expert judgment has been introduced in the process scoop. In spite of the strong pH
variation, the final score is not strongly affected.
The physical parameters pH and Temp are normalized and aggregated into the first group
(Gr01). DO and BOD comprise Gr02. Thermotolerant coliforms (Coli) were independently
normalized as Gr03. The nutrients DIN and TP make up Gr04; TS and Turb are grouped in
Gr05. The water analyses results used in this research were taken from the CETESB reports
for the years of 2004, 2005 and 2006 (CETESB, 2004, 2005 and 2006). Curves to help in the
creation and normalization of the fuzzy sets were taken these reports for the parameters pH,
BOD, Coli, DIN, TP, TS and Turb and from Conesa (1995) for Temp and DO.
The rules for normalization and aggregation followed the logic described below and the
consequent always obeyed the prescription of the minimum operator:

If FP is VE and SP is VE then GR output is VE
If FP is VE and SP is E then GR output is E
If FP is E and SP is VE then GR output if E

If FP is VE and SP is VP then GR output is VP
If FP is VP and SP is VE then GR output is VP

where: FP - First Parameter / SP - Second Parameter / GR - Group
The INQA was developed from a fuzzy inference that had Groups 01 to 05 as input sets and
a series or rules. The antecedent sets (Groups) and the consequent set (INQA) were created
by trapezoid (Excellent and Poor sets) and triangular pertinence (all others) functions (Table
3, Figure 3); the INQA classes were the same as for the CETESB's IQA quality standards
(Table 3). For example, it was assumed that the boundary between Good and Excellent had
a pertinence of 50% in the Excellent and Good fuzzy sets and so on, showing absence of a
rigid boundary between classes.

Fig. 3. Output Membership Function

Gr 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and INQAI IQA
0 - 100 CETESB
a b c d Classes
Excellent 65 90 100 100 79 < IQA 100
Good 44 65 90 51 < IQA 79
Fair 28 44 65 36 < IQA 51
Bad 0 28 44 19 < IQA 36
Poor 0 0 9 28 0 IQA 19
Table 3. Input and output fuzzy sets for inference IN06 and IQA
CETESB
classes


394
The fuzzy inference system used to compute the INQA has 3125 rules. Being impossible to
write them all in this paper, some examples are given below:
Rule 01:
If Gr01 is Excellent and Gr02 is Excellent and Gr03 is Excellent and Gr04 is Excellent and Gr05 is
Excellent then INQA is Excellent.
Rule 830:
If Gr01 is Excellent and Gr02 is Good and Gr03 is Bad and Gr04 is Excellent and Gr05 is Poor then
INQA is Good.
Rule 1214:
If Gr01 is Good and Gr02 is Poor and Gr03 is Bad and Gr04 is Fair and Gr05 is Bad then INQA is
Bad.
Rule 2445:
If Gr01 is Bad and Gr02 is Poor and Gr03 is Fair and Gr04 is Poor and Gr05 is Poor then INQA is
Poor.
All the computations were processed using the fuzzy logic toolbox for MATLAB (2006).
2.4 Study area
2.4.1 Ribeira do Iguape river environmental conservation area
The watershed of Ribeira River and the Lagoone-Estuary Complex of Iguape, Canania and
Paranagu, called Ribeira Valley, comprises 32 counties and covers and area of 28,306 km2,
with 9 cities and 12,238 km
2
in Paran State and 23 cities and 16,068 km
2
in So Paulo State,
Brasil. The economy of Ribeira Vally is based in livestock raising (200,421 hectares),
fruticulture (49,942 hectares), silviculture (46,368 hectares), temporary cultures (15,965
hectares) and horticulture (2,773 hectares). Sand and turf extraction from low-lying areas are
also significant. About 1% of the state population (396,684 people) live in this river basin,
68% of them in cities. About 56% of the effluents are collected and 49% are treated. It is
estimated that approximately 8.8 tons of BOD
5
(remaining pollutant charge) are launched in
rivers for disposal within this watershed (CETESB, 2006). The sampling points are given in
Table 4 and an illustrative map for this area is shown in Figure 4.

Table 4. Sampling point locations in the Ribeira do Iguape river
2.4.2 Paranapanema river farming area
Paranapanema River has a total extension of 929 km, with eight dams and barrages along its
length. The area under study is about 29,114 km
2
. Soil use is predominantly rural and thus
the region is considered a farming area, occupied mainly by pastures (1,781,625 ha) ,
followed by temporary cultures, such as sugar cane, soy and corn (764,476 ha) and
silviculture (76,595 ha). Fruticulture occupies 40,917 ha and horticulture, 2,477 ha. The
watershed comprises 63 counties, with a total population of 1,155,060, of which 88% is urban
(CETESB, 2006). Approximately 95.5% of the effluents produced in this watershed are
collected and about 79%of these are treated. It is estimated that approximately 20 tons of


395
BOD
5
are dumped in reception bodies of this watershed for disposal (CETESB, 2006). The
sampling points are given in Table 5 and an illustrative map for this area is shown in Figure 5.

Fig. 4. Map showing Ribeira do Iguape River in a conservation area.

Fig. 5. Map showing Paranapanema River in a farming area.


396

Table 5. Sampling point locations in Paranapanema River
2.4.3 Pardo river industrializing area
Pardo River is born in a small spring in Minas Gerais state, crosses the northwest part of So
Paulo state and, after running for 240 km with a watershed of 8,993 km
2
, empties in the
estuary of Mogi-Guau river. The main uses of the soil in this watershed are urban-
industrial and farming, with predominance of sugar cane (329,924 ha), followed by pastures
(261,999 ha), fruticulture (83,611 ha) and silviculture (46,640 ha). About 3% of the state
population live in this UGRHI (1,056,658 people) with 97% of the population in urban areas,
scattered over 23 cities. More than 99% of the effluents are collected and 51% are treated. It
is estimated that approximately 31 tons of BOD
5
are dumped in reception bodies of this
watershed for disposal (CETESB, 2006). The sampling points are given in Table 6 and an
illustrative map for this area is shown in Figure 6.

Table 6. Sampling point locations in Pardo River

Fig. 6. Map showing Pardo River in an industrializing area.


397
2.4.4 Paraba do Sul river industrial aea
Paraba do Sul River has an approximate length of 1,150 km (Jornal da ASEAC, 2001). Its
watershed is located in the southwest region of Brazil and covers approximately 55,400 km
2
,
including the states of So Paulo (13,500 km
2
), Rio de Janeiro (21,000 km
2
) and Minas Gerais
(20,900 km
2
). The watershed comprises 180 counties, with a total population of 5,588,237,
88.8% in urban areas. The river is used predominantly for irrigation (49.73 m
3
/s), without
taking into account the transposition of the Paraba do Sul (160 m
3
/s) and Pira (20 m
3
/s)
rivers to the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. The urban supply amounts to about 16.5
m
3
/s, while the industrial sector uses 13.6 m
3
/s, surpassing only the cattle-raising sector, with
less than 4 m
3
/s. The main uses of the soil are urban-industrial and rural, the second with
pastures (545,156 ha), temporary cultures (57,709 ha), fruticulture (2,996 ha), horticulture (438)
and silviculture (83,667 ha). About 5% of the state population (1,944,638) live in this watershed,
with 91% in urban areas, scattered throughout 34 counties. Of the total effluents produced in
this watershed, 89% are collected and 33% of these are treated. It is estimated that about 72
tons of BOD are dumped in this river for disposal (CETESB, 2006). The sampling points are
given in Table 7 and an illustrative map for this area is shown in Figure 7.

Table 7. Sampling point locations in Paraba do Sul River

Fig. 7. Map showing Paraba do Sul River in an industrial area.


398
3. Index results and discussion
The IQA
CETESB
was taken from the Relatrios de Qualidade das guas Interiores do Estado de So
Paulo (CETESB, 2004, 2005, 2006). The IQA
sub
was calculated with a weight factor k = 0.75 for
good quality water. The IQA
min
was calculated as described by Pesce and Wunderlin (2000)
and the IQA
PAL
according to Silva e Jardim (2006), using the recommended technologies.
The INQA was computed using the method previously outlined. In this work individual
results will not be presented. The results will be graphically presented in the consolidated
form of weighted averages. A statistical analysis of the results will then be performed.
Factors or influences that lead to an increase or decrease of individual parameters will not
be discussed, since this would take us too far afield. A discussion of the subject can be found
in Lermontov (2009).
3.1 Ribeira do Iguape river indices environmental conservation area
The annual averages of the indices for 2004, 2005 and 2006 are shown in Figure 8 for all
sampling points. The IQA
CETESB
, IQA
sub
and INQA indices are strongly correlated. In most
cases, the IQA
sub
index is the stricter and IQA
min
is the less strict, attributing a better quality
to the same water sample.

Fig. 8. Annual averages of the indices for the Ribeira do Iguape River.
3.2 Paranapanema river indices farming area
The results for the Parapanema River are shown in Figure 9. The IQA
min
for 2004 is less strict
than the other indices, while the IQA
min
is the stricter. The other the indices are very close
for sampling points SP 03, 04 and 05, but diverge somewhat for sampling points SP 01 and
02.
In the case of 2005 data, the INQA stays close to the IQA
CETESB
for all sampling points but
the two indices are weakly correlated, specially at sampling point SP 02. The IQA
sub
is again
the stricter index and the IQA
min
the less strict. Data for 2006 confirm that the IQA
sub
is not
the best indicator for the water quality of this river, since it diverges significantly from the
other indices. The INQA is again very close to the IQA
CETESB,
although slightly less strict.


399

Fig. 9. Annual averages of the indices for the Paranapanema River.
3.3 Pardo river indices industrializing area
The results for the Pardo River are shown in Figure 10. For 2004, que IQA
CETESB
, IQA
sub
e
INQA ndices are very close. A k = 0.75 value for the IQA
sub
index shows a less strict
evaluation, while a k = 1.00 for the IQA
obj
shows a stricter evaluation. The INQA is in
general close to the IQA
CETESB
, albeit somewhat less strict for SP 04. The 2005 results show
the INQA close to the IQA
CETESB
for sampling points SP 01 e SP 02 but the indices diverge
for SP 03 and SP 04. The IQA
sub
is again the stricter index. The results for 2006 are similar.

Fig. 10. Annual averages of the indices for the Pardo River.
3.4 Paraba do Sul indices industrial area
The results for the Paraba do Sul River are shown in Figure 11. In the case, the IQA
PAL
is the
stricter index, while the IQA
obj
and the IQA
min
alternate as the less strict index, depending
on the sampling point. The IQA
CETESB
, IQA
sub
and INQA are closely related.


400

Fig. 11. Annual averages of the indices for the Paraba do Sul River.
4. Statistical results, discussion and conclusions
4.1 Statistical results
The purpose of statistical analysis of the results for each watershed was to validate the use
of fuzzy methodology to develop a fuzzy water quality index (INQA). In this process, the
results for 2004, 2005 and 2006 were not separately studied, but were grouped in a single
data set for each index. The results are shown in Table 8.

Table 8. Statistical Data
The statistical data were computed using the StatSoft Statistica application and will be
discussed in section 4.2. Figure 12 show the coefficient of variation of the indices.
Table 9 shows the relative differences between the means of the indices and the official
index (IQA
CETESB
) and the proposed new index (INQA), calculated using Equation 6:


401
% variation = (I1 - I2) / I1 x 100 (6)
Where:
I1 First index
I2 Second index

Fig. 12. Coefficients of variation of the indices.

Table 9. Relative differences between the means of the indices and IQA
CETESB
and INQA.


402
The frequency histograms of the indices for the four watersheds are shown in Figure 13 and
correspond to a visual representation of the frequency distribution tables. For analysis and
interpretation of these graphs, see Lermontov (2009).

Ribeira do Iguape Paranapanema

Pardo Paraba do Sul
Fig. 13. Frequency histograms for the four watersheds.


403
Figures 14 and 15 show box & whiskers plots for all indices and watersheds. These plots are
a convenient way to visualize the main trend and the data scatter and to show, in the same
graph, the main results of a sampling.


Pardo Paraba do Sul

Fig. 14. Box & Whiskers plots of the mean, mean standard deviation and mean 1,96 times
standard deviation for the four watersheds.


404


Pardo Paraba do Sul
Fig. 15. Box & Whiskers plots of the median, upper and lower quartile and maximum and
minimum value for the four watersheds.
Table 10 shows the correlations between the fuzzy index (INQA) and the other indices. The
best correlation, 0.8527 (a strong correlation), between the INQA and the IQA
CETESB
for the
Paranapanema River, is illustrated in Figure 16. The worst correlation, 0.3740, between the
INQA and the IQA
PAL
for the Ribeira do Iguape River, is illustrated in Figure 17.

Corelations - Pearsons r

Ribeira do
Iguape
Paranapanema Pardo Paraba do Sul
INQA x IQA
CETESB
0.79381 0.8527 0.8206 0.7943
INQA x IQA
sub
0.57937 0.7710 0.7107 0.8127
INQA x IQA
obj
0.57937 0.7710 0.7107 0.8742
INQA x IQA
min
0.59937 0.6444 0.6520 0.7483
INQA x IQA
PAL
0.37406 0.3924 0.4025 0.5191
Table 10. Correlations between the INQA and the other indices for the four watersheds.


405

Fig. 16. Best correlation INQA x IQA
CETESB
r = 0.8527 Paranapanema River

Fig. 17. Worst correlation INQA x IQA
pal
r = 0.3740 Ribeira do Iguape River


406
4.2 Statistical discussion
The statistical data that were collected and presented in this work provide a rich field for
discussion and analysis. However, our purpose here was only to validate the use of the fuzzy
index (INQA). A simplified statistical analysis was implemented and fulfilled its purpose.
In the case of the Ribeira do Iguape River, we could compute all indices from the available
data, except the IQA
CETESB
, that was taken directly from reports.
In the case of the Paraba do Sul River, since there was a minimum equal to zero, the
geometric and harmonic means could not be computed.
For all watersheds and all indices, the geometric mean was lower than the arithmetic mean
and the harmonic mean was lower than the arithmetic mean.
The geometric mean and the harmonic mean of the IQA
PAL
could not be computed for the
Paraba do Sul River because, in the case, the minimum value was 0.
The coefficients of variation shown in the last column of Table 8 were plotted in Figure 12.
In this kind of analysis, the statistical results are presented though a parameter that
reflects the scattering of the data points. The worst coefficient of variation was that of the
IQA
PAL
and the best were those of the IQA
sub
and the IQA
obj
. When the results for the INQA
and the IQA
CETESB
are compared, one notices that the coefficient of variation of the INQA
was smaller than that of the IQA
CETESB
in three watersheds: Ribeira do Iguape,
Paranapanema and Pardo. Only in the industrial area of the Paraba do Sul River the
coefficient of variation of the IQA
CETESB
was smaller than that of the INQA. This is probably
due to the fact that the Paraba do Sul watershed is more polluted than the others, with low
quality water.

The relative differences more relevant to our study, i.e. those between means of the other
indices and the IQA
CETESB
and the INQA means, were computed using Equation 6 and the
results are shown in Table 9. In the case of the difference between the IQA
CETESB
and the
INQA, the main focus of our study, all the differences were smaller than 10%. The largest
difference, 7.5%, was for the Paraba do Sul watershed, an industrial area, and the smallest,
0.5%, was for the Paranapanema watershed, a farming area.
Examining the box and whiskers plots of Figures 14 and 15 along with the data from Table
9, one can draw the following conclusions:
IQA
obj
and IQA
min
are the indices that diverge more sharply from the others, especially
from IQA
CETESB
, calculated using a well accepted method;
INQA yielded satisfactory results when compared to a traditional method such as
IQA
CETESB
;
The results obtained using INQA and IQA
CETESB
were closest for a farming region and
were farthest for an industrial region.
The correlation data are shown in Table 10. The correlation coefficient r, or Pearsons r, as
it is also called, is used in this study to measure the degree of correlation between INQA and
the other indices for each watershed. Values between 0.7 and 1.0 (positive or negative)
indicate a strong correlation between two parameters. Examining the correlation data, one
can draw the following conclusions:
The worst correlation with INQA was that of IQA
PAL
in all four watersheds. This is
probably due to the fact that this indicator is based on only two parameters;
The best correlation with INQA was that of IQA
obj
in the industrial region (Paraba do
Sul watershed), but the correlation of IQA
obj
with INQA was much weaker in the other
regions;


407
The best global correlation with INQA was that of IQA
CETESB
, a widely accepted index;
The best individual correlation between INQA and IQA
CETESB
was in the farming region
(Paranapanema watershed).
4.3 Statistical conclusions
The main conclusions of the statistical analysis are the following:
There is a strong correlation between the proposed fuzzy index (INQA) and a widely
accepted, traditional index (IQA
CETESB
);
The relative differences between the means of INQA and IQA
CETESB
were less than 8%
for all four watersheds;
The box and whiskers plots for the two indices are reasonably similar;
The other statistical results for the two indices also were reasonably similar;
The coefficients of variation of the INQA were smaller than those of the IQA
CETESB
for
all four watersheds.
5. General conclusions
The use of several water quality indices and the development, application and evaluation of
a new indexing method to assess river water quality using fuzzy inference is discussed. A
new index, called Fuzzy Water Quality Index (INQA) is developed to correct perceived
deficiencies in environmental monitoring, water quality classification and management of
water resources in cases where the conventional, deterministic methods can be inaccurate or
conceptually limited. This methodology differs from other fuzzy water quality indexing
methodologies by incorporating the weight factor in qualitative sphere throughout the rules
in the inference engine. This is only possible due to a high variety of rules inserted in the
inference system. The practical applications of the new index is tested in a realistic case
study carried out in Ribeira do Iguape River in So Paulo State, Brazil, showing that the
proposed index is reliable and consistent with the traditional qualitative methods.
Most institutional players are not familiar with fuzzy logic concepts, therefore being
unaware of the potential of this technique for the transfer of expert knowledge in a
qualitative sphere into a formal system of environmental assessment. We think that this
approach can and should be used as an alternate tool for the analysis of river water quality
and for strategic planning and decision making in the context of integrated environmental
management.
For this doctoral study, the same nine parameters used by CETESB State Organ to calculate
its IQA were chosen for the methodology validation by statistical comparison. The authors
also worked in the development of an index with additional parameters, such as heavy
metals, organoleptic metals and toxic compounds, for a more realistic evaluation of the
hydric bodies (Lermontov, 2009).
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21
Environmental Management of Wastewater
Treatment Plants the Added Value
of the Ecotoxicological Approach
Elsa Mendona
1
, Ana Picado
1
, Maria Ana Cunha
2
and Justina Catarino
1

1
Laboratrio Nacional de Energia e Geologia (LNEG), Lisboa,
2
Agncia Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA), Amadora,
Portugal
1. Introduction
Pollution control has been changed by advances in scientific knowledge, because there is a
connection of environmental contamination with the ability to measure it. With greater
understanding of the impact of wastewater on the environment and more sophisticated
analytical methods, advanced treatment is becoming more common (Lofrano & Brown,
2010).
The assessment of biological effects of wastewater discharges in the ecosystems is today
considered relevant and ecotoxicological tests identifying the ecological hazard are useful
tools for the identification of environmental impacts. Direct toxicity assessment, making use
of ecotoxicological tests, can play an important role in supporting decision-making, either
regulatory driven or on a voluntary basis.
Within the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive - IPPC, 2008/1/EC
(European Commission [EC], 2008), the Direct Toxicity Assessment concept has been
included as a suitable monitoring tool on effluent in several Best Available Techniques
(BAT) Reference Documents. Also, in Water Framework Directive WFD, 2000/60/EC (EC,
2000), direct toxicity assessment of Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) effluents can
contribute to attain or keep ecological quality objectives in water masses. So, for EU
countries to comply with good ecological status, ecotoxicity evaluation of WWTP effluents is
extremely relevant.
In many countries ecotoxicity tests are already in use for wastewater management (Power &
Boumphrey, 2004; Tinsley et al., 2004; United States Environmental Protection Agency
[USEPA], 2004; Vindimian et al., 1999). Bioassays are also used for wastewater surveillance
and BAT compliance by authorities in Germany (Gartiser et al., 2010a). A global evaluation
of wastewaters should include ecotoxicological tests to complement the chemical
characterization, with advantages especially in the case of complex wastewaters (Mendona
et al., 2009). This approach has advantages particularly to protect biological treatment plants
from toxic influents (Hongxia et al., 2004), to monitor the effectiveness of WWTP (Cbere et
al., 2009; Daniel et al., 2004; Emmanuel et al., 2005; Libralato et al., 2006; Metcalf & Eddy,
2003) and in the impact assessment of complex wastewaters. Bioassays are considered a
suitable tool for assessing the ecotoxicological relevance of complex organic mixtures
(Gartiser et al., 2010b).

As it is often referred (e.g. Metcalf & Eddy, 2003; Movahedian et al., 2005; Teodorovi et al.,
2009), physico-chemical parameters alone are not sufficient in obtaining reliable information
on treated wastewater toxicity and toxicity tests must be performed in combination with
routine chemical analysis. The prediction of toxicity from chemical data is considered
limited and the better coincidence between the toxicity and chemical-based assessments
were achieved when information from all tests in a test-battery was assembled
(Manusadianas et al., 2003).
In the framework of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comprehensive analysis of WWTP is
evaluated for the physico-chemical characterization of the wastewaters as well as the
inventory of inputs and outputs associated with the global process (Hospido et al., 2004). In
a recent work Life Cycle Impact Assessment was done using emerging pollutants
quantification to rank potential impacts in urban wastewater (Muoz et al., 2008). A step
forward in this approach would be to use ecotoxicological indicators.
In the last ten years and in the framework of European and National contracts developed in
Lisbon area (Portugal) studies were conducted on the integrated evaluation of the
ecotoxicological and physicochemical parameters of wastewaters from treatment plants
receiving domestic and industrial effluents. The evaluation of ecotoxicological data from
four of these WWTP was the main aim of this study. Data from acute tests with different
species (bacteria, algae, crustaceans and plants) are discussed.
2. Material and methods
2.1 Wastewater treatment plants
The characteristics of the four WWTP that receive domestic and industrial wastewaters are
presented in Table 1. These systems differ from each other, namely in the magnitude of
flows (the daily flow goes from 16 000 m
3
/day to 155 000 m
3
/day), the treatment level
implemented (from preliminary treatment to tertiary treatment) and the site of discharge
(river, estuary or coastal area).

WWTP 1 WWTP 2 WWTP 3 WWTP 4
Population equivalent 130 000 700 000 800 000 250 000
Flow (m
3
/day) 16 000 70 000 155 000 54 500
Treatment type secondary tertiary preliminary tertiary
Discharge River River Sea Estuary
Table 1. General information on the Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP)
2.2 Wastewater sampling
Wastewater samples were collected with different strategies and periodicities in the
different Treatment Plants:
WWTP1 and WWTP2 Influent and effluent 24h-composite samples collected
seasonally in November, March, September and December 2003/2004;
WWTP3 Effluent 24h-composite sample collected monthly from 2006 to 2009;
WWTP4 Influent and effluent 1h-composite samples collected in different days of the
week (Monday, Tuesday and Friday) at 10 h, 14h and 23h in April 2010.
Treatment Plants the Added Value of the Ecotoxicological Approach 413
As presented in Figure 1, sampling point for WWTP1 was after secondary treatment, for
WWTP2 after tertiary treatment, for WWTP3 after preliminary treatment and for WWTP4
after primary treatment.
Each sample was divided into subsamples, kept frozen (-20C) for ecotoxicological analysis
for no more than 1 month.

Fig. 1. General Scheme of WWTP treatment process and identification of the level of
treatment analyzed in each Treatment Plant.

Preliminary
Primary
Advanced
primary
Secondary
Secondary
with nutrient
removal
Tertiary
Advanced

2.3 Ecotoxicity tests
Ecotoxicological evaluation of the samples was performed using Vibrio fischeri,
Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Thamnocephalus platyurus, Daphnia magna and Lemna minor as
test organisms, to assess acute aquatic toxicity, according to the following methods:
Microtox test: Bacterial toxicity was assessed by determining the inhibition of the
luminescence of Vibrio fischeri (strain NRRL B-11177) exposed for 15 minutes
(Microtox Test, Microbics, Carlsbad, U.S.A.). The test was performed according to the
basic test procedure (Microbics, 1992);
AlgalTox test: Algal toxicity was assessed by measuring the growth inhibition of
Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata exposed for 72 hours, according to AlgalToxKit F
TM
test
procedure (Microbiotests, 2004) that follow the OECD guideline 201 (Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 1984). Optical density (OD 670 nm)
of algae suspensions was determined;
ThamnoTox test: Crustacean toxicity was assessed by determining the mortality of
Thamnocephalus platyurus exposed for 24 hours according to ThamnoToxKit F
TM
test
procedure (Microbiotests, 2003);
Daphnia test: Crustacean toxicity was also assessed by determining the inhibition of the
mobility of Daphnia magna (clone IRCHA-5) exposed for 48 hours, according to ISO
6341:1996 (International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 1996). Juveniles for
testing were obtained from cultures maintained in the laboratory;
Lemna test: Plant toxicity was assessed by determining the growth inhibition of Lemna
minor (clone ST) exposed for 7 days, according to ISO 20079: 2005 (ISO, 2005). Plants for
testing were obtained from cultures maintained in the laboratory. Total frond area was
used as growth parameter, quantified by an image analysis system Scanalyzer
(LemnaTec, Wrselen, Germany).
All samples were tested with Microtox, Daphnia and Lemna tests. For WWTP1, WWTP2
and WWTP4 samples, AlgalTox and ThamnoTox tests were also performed.
2.4 Data analysis
For each toxicity test EC
50
-t or LC
50
-t, the effective concentration (% v/v) responsible for the
inhibition or lethality in 50% of tested population after the defined exposure period (t), was
calculated:
EC
50
-72h for AlgalTox test, LC
50
-24h for ThamnoTox test and EC
50
-48 h for Daphnia test
by using Tox-Calc
TM
software (version 5.0, Tidepool Scientific software, 2002);
EC
50
-7d for Lemna test by using Biostat 2.0 software (LemnaTec 2001);
EC
50
-15 min for Microtox test by using Microtox Omni
TM
software (Azur Environmental,
1999).
To obtain a direct interpretation between values and toxicity, ecotoxicity test results are in
this work presented in Toxic Units (TU), calculated as TU=1/ EC
50
*100. Aiming to include
all raw data for TU calculation and for statistical analysis, EC
50
values not determined due to
low effect levels were considered as 100%. For data analysis, values lower than 1 TU were
considered as 0.5 TU.
The tests sensitivity was assessed by Slooffs index (Slooff, 1983): each single test result
(expressed as EC
50
or LC
50
) is divided by the arithmetic mean of all test results for each
sample, and the geometric mean of these ratios for each test is calculated. The smaller value
stands for the more sensitive test. The Slooffs index was calculated for Microtox, AlgalTox,
ThamnoTox, Daphnia and Lemna tests.
Pearson correlations were determined for WWTP3 using statistical analysis software (JMP
5.0.1) for the 48 samples on the following 4 variables:
Wastewater flow (pers. comm.);
Ecotoxicological data from Microtox, Daphnia and Lemna tests.
Aiming to assess direct toxicity of samples from four WWTP we evaluated data from acute
tests with different species: bacteria, algae, crustaceans and plants. The results are presented
in Tables 2 to 5.
Results obtained for WWTP1 (Table 2) show clearly that influent and effluent samples have
different toxicity levels to the species tested, except for Lemna that shows no toxicity both
for influent and effluent samples.

Sample Microtox AlgalTox ThamnoTox Daphnia Lemna
I
n
f
l
u
e
n
t
Nov 03 27.0

3.8 <1 <1
Mar 04 19.2 5.0 2.3 1.4

Sep 04 5.6 <1 7.1 4.8 <1
Dec 04 11.5 1.8 1.7 2.4 <1
E
f
f
l
u
e
n
t
Nov 03 <1

<1 <1 <1
Mar 04 1.9 <1 2.2 <1 <1
Sep 04 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1
Dec 04 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1
Table 2. Values for ecotoxicological tests in Toxic Units (TU) obtained for WWTP1 influent
and effluent samples
For WWTP2 (Table 3), influent and effluent samples have also different toxicity levels to the
species tested, except for AlgalTox that shows no toxicity both for influent and effluent
samples. The effluent samples show in this case no toxicity in all the tests performed.

I
n
f
l
u
e
n
t
Nov 03 17.2

3.7 1.2 1.1
Mar 04 62.5 <1 3.0 1.4 1.4
Sep 04 47.6 <1 2.0 1.8 1.1
Dec 04 83.3 <1 1.6 2.5 <1
E
f
f
l
u
e
n
t
Nov 03 <1

<1 <1 <1
Mar 04 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1
Sep 04 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1
Dec 04 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1

For WWTP3 (Table 4), effluent samples have different toxicity levels to the species tested,
with Microtox having the higher TU values along the four years. No significant correlations
were obtained between toxicity test results and corresponding daily discharge flow.

Microtox Daphnia Lemna

2006 2007 2008 2009 2006 2007 2008 2009 2006 2007 2008 2009
Jan 16.3 14.5 5.9 33.3 3.2 1.4 2.4 1.5 1.6 <1 <1 <1
Feb 4.6 13.2 6.4 10.8 2.9 1.0 1.3 <1 1.2 <1 1.6 <1
Mar 2.2 10.4 15.6 11.6 1.4 2.0 2.9 1.8 <1 <1 1.3 1.0
Apr 8.1 8.4 14.9 10.9 1.4 1.9 2.6 2.5 1.4 <1 <1 <1
May 27.8 14.7 14.5 12.5 4.6 3.1 4.8 1.7 1.6 1.1 <1 1.0
Jun 32.3 16.4 13.2 10.3 7.1 2.6 2.1 1.2 <1 1.4 <1 1.0
Jul 13.5 25.0 19.2 22.2 6.6 2.2 1.2 <1 <1 1.1 1.1 1.0
Aug 14.5 12.2 19.2 4.1 3.2 3.1 3.6 2.2 <1 1.2 1.0 1.1
Sep 25.6 12.7 20.4 5.1 8.1 3.2 1.6 1.5 <1 1.4 <1 <1
Oct 17.5 7.8 31.3 10.0 2.6 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.1 <1 <1 <1
Nov 18.9 13.0 83.3 15.4 3.4 3.1 2.9 4.3 <1 1.3 1.0 1.1
Dec 16.7 4.7 71.4 9.4 3.2 1.4 3.2 <1 1.2 1.4 <1 <1
Table 4. Values for ecotoxicological tests in Toxic Units (TU) obtained for WWTP3 effluent
samples.
No time pattern for effluent toxicity was observed in WWTP3. Between October 2008 and
January 2009, the effluent samples were particularly toxic to the bacteria, with 83.3 TU in
November 2008 (Figure 2).
For WWTP4 (Table 5), the difference in toxicity levels is not so clear between untreated and
treated wastewater samples although for Microtox the range of values is higher for the
untreated samples [5.8 TU - 93.5 TU] versus treated samples [2.3 TU 35.8 TU].
During the week monitoring, the highest TU value was obtained on Friday night for
Microtox. A peak in toxicity was obtained for Microtox in all samples collected at 23h. This
is in line with Chapman (2007) that concludes that difficulties in obtaining representative
samples arise in WWTP effluents, whose composition is highly variable, and repeated
testing is required.
Analyzing the mean TU values obtained in the different tests, Microtox test shows higher
values in all WWTP, followed by the crustacean tests. Low toxicity values were obtained in
the plant and algae tests (Figure 3).

Fig. 2. Distribution of sample toxicity in Toxic Units (TU) for WWTP3 monthly samples from
2006 to 2009.

I
n
f
l
u
e
n
t

Mon-10h 5.8 <1 2.8 <1 1.3
Mon-14h 19.4 <1 3.0 <1 <1
Mon-23h 32.7 <1 3.6 1.5 1.1
Tues-10h 13.9 <1 2.7 <1 1.3
Tues-14h 12.6 <1 2.8 <1 <1
Tues-23h 46.5 <1 3.4 1.9 <1
Fri-10h 17.9 <1 2.6 3.6 <1
Fri-14h 43.9 <1 2.5 1.9 <1
Fri-23h 93.5 <1 2.4 1.4 <1
E
f
f
l
u
e
n
t

Mon-14h 2.3 <1 2.8 <1 <1
Mon-23h 11.1 <1 3.0 1.1 1.1
Tues-10h 2.9 1.1 1.8 <1 1.3
Tues-14h 4.8 <1 2.8 <1 1.3
Tues-23h 17.8 <1 2.4 1.5 <1
Fri-10h 16.6 <1 2.1 1.5 <1
Fri-14h 11.4 <1 2.2 1.1 <1
Fri-23h 35.8 <1 2.3 <1 <1
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Microtox Daphnia Lemna
2009 2006
2007
2008


Fig. 3. Mean Toxic Units (TU) values for the tested species and for all effluent samples.
The acute toxicity is dependent on the treatment level of the studied WWTP and the species
tested (Figure 3). TU values for Microtox and ThamnoTox are higher in the case of WWTP3
and 4, with preliminary and primary levels of treatment, respectively. The used tests are
able to distinguish the different levels of treatment, with the exception of AlgalTox.
From data presented in Figure 4, toxicity removal was obtained for all the WWTP where
input and output wastewaters were monitored. For WWTP4 primary treatment removal
values were in the range 15-60%. For the WWTP with secondary (WWTP1) and tertiary
(WWTP2) levels of treatment toxicity removal evaluated by both crustaceans is similar, only
the bacteria achieve to detect higher efficiency (100%) with the tertiary treatment. Tyagi et
al. (2007) found that the mean percentage removal in toxicity for D. magna after primary,
secondary and tertiary treatment were 29%, 76% and 100%, respectively. Also Movahedian
et al. (2005) reinforces that toxicity removal increases with the level of treatment (e.g. 8% for
preliminary treatment and 38% for primary treatment).
A wastewater classification adapted from Tonkes et al. (1999) to the TU values, is as follows:
samples with less than 1 TU are considered non toxic; between 1 and 10 TU are considered
slightly toxic; with more than 10 TU are considered toxic. Values higher than 10 TU were
obtained for Microtox test in 69% of the samples tested. Values between 1 and 10 TU were
obtained for 79% of the samples for ThamnoTox and 74% of the samples for Daphnia. No
toxicity to the alga and to the plant was registered for the majority of samples, respectively
90% and 65%.
Slooffs sensitivity index calculated for this group of acute test results shows that the
bacterium Vibrio fischeri is the most sensitive species, and allows to establish the following
gradient of test sensitivity, Microtox > ThamnoTox > Daphnia > AlgalTox > Lemna, from
the corresponding Slooffs index values 0.2 < 0.7 < 1.0 < 1.4 < 1.6.
The sensitivity of Microtox test and the reliability of this test in monitoring toxicity of
treatment plant wastewaters have also been observed by other authors (Arajo et al., 2005;
Libralato et al., 2006; Lundstrm et al., 2010b). Related to the crustacean toxicity several
authors concluded that Daphnia magna acute test can be a useful analytical tool for early
Lemna
Daphnia
Microtox Thamnotox
Algaltox
WWTP1
WWTP2
WWTP3
WWTP4
1
10
100
warning system to monitor the different operational units of wastewater treatment plants
(Movahedian et al., 2005; Tyagi et al., 2007) or to use in toxicity identification evaluation
procedures (Hongxia et al., 2004). Also a study with a copepod as test organism showed that
conventionally treated sewage effluent resulted in the most negative effects leading to the
conclusion that additional treatments created effluents with less negative impacts
(Lundstrm et al., 2010a).

Fig. 4. Toxicity removal efficiency evaluated in WWTP 1, 2 and 4, for Microtox, Daphnia and
ThamnoTox tests.
Though we found low sensitivity of Lemna minor in WWTP toxicity evaluation, the
ecotoxicological assessment of pharmaceutical and food industries effluents using Lemna
minor as a test organism was considered suitable by Radi et al. (2010) that demonstrated the
relevance of Lemna as a sensitive indicator of water quality. In nutrient rich wastewaters,
although the algae test can be sensitive, it might not be the most appropriate test because of
the complex relationship of inhibition and promotion of algae growth often observed
(Gartiser et al., 2010a).
When using the wastewater classification for the most sensitive species, in this study the
bacteria V. fischeri used in the Microtox test, and considering all the WWTP under study, the
distribution of toxicity level of treated samples in percentage is in accordance with the
treatment process level implemented (Figure 5). For a tertiary treated effluent 100% samples
are non toxic and for a preliminary treated effluent 75% are toxic.
Concerning WWTP systems and considering the relative sensitivity of the organisms used in
wastewater testing and the importance to consider effects at different trophic levels, the test
battery proposed in a previous work (Mendona et al., 2009) for characterization of WWTP
discharges included tests with a bacterium, an alga and a crustacean to monitor this type of
wastewaters. For a screening only one test with the most sensitive species, Microtox, was
proposed.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
WWTP1 WWTP2 WWTP4
T
o
x
i
c
i
t
y
r
e
m
o
v
a
l
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
(
%
)
Microtox
Daphnia
Thamnotox


Fig. 5. Distribution of treated samples according to toxicity level for the more sensitive
species - Microtox, and Wastewater Treatment Plant process level.
Once secondary and tertiary treatment are employed, the prevention of eutrophication
became the next goal for wastewater treatment, requiring the removal of nitrogen,
phosphorous or both (Lofrano & Brown, 2010).
On the other hand, little is known about the potential interactive effects of organic
wastewater contaminants, namely steroids and hormones present in municipal effluents,
when in complex mixtures that may occur in the environment and about their effect on
human health (Filby et al., 2007). Chronic toxicity test and endocrine disruption assay of
WWTP effluent samples indicated that, in a long term, potential population effects could
arise in the receiving waters (Mendona et al., 2009). Kontana et al. (2008) in an
ecotoxicological assessment of municipal wastewater using several test organisms including
Vibrio fischeri and Daphnia magna, observed a decrease of ecotoxicological responses for all
bioassays but also the induction of immune response after tertiary treatment, pointing to the
need of using sensitive biomarkers if wastewaters are intended for reuse.
Considering ecotoxicity testing as an integral part of the toolbox to investigate the
environmental impacts of effluents but knowing that it can be complex, time consuming and
expensive, a tiered approach is recommended when defining a realistic assessment strategy
(European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals [ECETOC], 2004; OSPAR
Convention for the Protection of the marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic
[OSPAR], 2007). The validity of the use of acute tests to drive environmental improvement
has been demonstrated, but methodologies for chronic toxicity need further development.
4. Conclusion
This work shows that wastewater acute toxicity is dependent on the treatment level of the
WWTP and the species tested. The bacterium Vibrio fischeri, the test organism in Microtox
test, proved to be the most sensitive species in wastewater ecotoxicological evaluation.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Preliminary
Primary
Secundary
Tertiary
Toxic
Slightlytoxic
Nontoxic
The distribution of treated samples according to the toxicity level to the most sensitive
species clearly reveals the treatment process level implemented. All the used tests, with the
exception of AlgalTox test, are able to distinguish the different levels of treatment and to
assess toxicity removal efficiency.
The ecotoxicological approach proves to have an added value to hazard and risk assessment
of discharges to the receiving waters and environmental management of the Wastewater
Treatment Plant can use this tool with advantages. Even if a preliminary treatment in the
WWTP is associated with the discharge in a submarine outfall, environmental monitoring
including toxicological parameters proves to be important.
The inclusion of these ecological relevant data in the assessment of the grey water footprint
for point sources of water pollution, like WWTP, can be the next step to have good
indicators of the degree of water pollution.
5. Acknowledgment
Research data were obtained under programs supported by the EU LIFE Environment
Program (LIFE02 ENV/P/000416 and LIFE08 ENV/P/000237) and a contract with a public
enterprise.
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the UK: a demonstration programme, Ecotoxicology 13, pp. 423-436.
Tonkes, M., de Graaf, P.J.F. & Graansma, J. (1999). Assessment of complex industrial
effluents in the Netherlands using a whole effluent toxicity (or WET) approach,
Water Science and Technology 39, pp. 55-61.
Tyagi, V.K., Chopra, A.K., Durgapal, N.C. & Kumar, A. (2007). Evaluation of Daphnia magna
as an indicator of toxicity and treatment efficiency of municipal sewage treatment
plant, Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management 11, pp. 61-67.

USEPA (2004). NPDES Compliance Inspection Manual, Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA 305-X-03-004.
Vindimian, E., Garric, J., Flammarion, P., Thybaud, E. & Babut, M. (1999). An index of
effluent aquatic toxicity designed by partial least squares regression, using acute
and chronic tests and expert judgments, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 18,
pp. 2386-2391.
22
Technology Roadmap for Wastewater
Reuse in Petroleum Refineries in Brazil
Felipe Pombo, Alessandra Magrini and Alexandre Szklo
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Energy Planning Program
Brazil
1. Introduction
Because of the planned expansion of Brazils refining capacity called for in the governments
energy policy and the scenario of stress on water resources, it is necessary to design the
countrys new refineries so as to minimize water consumption and maximize reuse of
effluents.
Existing refineries are large water consumers. In 2009, Brazilian refineries consumed 254,093
m
3
/ day of water (estimated from the water consumption index of Petrobras refineries, of
0.9 m
3
water/ m
3
of oil) (Amorim, 2005). Empresa de Pesquisa Energtica - EPE (Energy
Research Company), a federally owned company that is part of the Ministry of Mines and
Energy, forecasts an increase of 79% in Brazilian refining capacity with the construction of
new refineries by 2030 (EPE, 2007). Some of them are planned for the Northeast region,
which suffers from water shortage. While Brazil as a whole is blessed with water, having
roughly 13% of the planets freshwater reserves (Mierzwa & Hespanhol, 2005), these
resources are very unevenly distributed, with some regions plagued by shortages (arid and
semi-arid regions) and others blessed with abundant water. Finally, although the countrys
industrial heartland, the state of So Paulo, and the center of its oil industry, the state of Rio
de Janeiro, both are in the countrys semi-tropical region, they still face problems of water
shortages due to high demand, causing conflicts among watershed users.
The methods to reduce water consumption are conservation, recycling and reuse. Among
the three, water conservation requires the least effort and investment costs. It involves the
rational use of water by industry, incorporating measures to prevent physical losses and
improve operations (Matsumura & Mierzwa, 2008). Recycling (with regeneration) refers to
the use of treated wastewater at the place of origin. Finally, water reuse can occur in the
following forms: a) direct reuse of wastewater in other processes, when the level of
contamination does not interfere in the next process; and b) with regeneration, which is
reuse of treated effluent in different processes than the original one (Wang & Smith, 1994).
An important energy efficiency program was launched in 1992 by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, called Energy Star. As part of this program, a guide was issued focused
on the refinery industry (Worrell & Galitsky, 2005). However, this document only covers
energy use by refineries. There is a need for a similar document on efficient water use by
refineries. Therefore, against the backdrop depicted above of unevenly distributed and
locally insufficient water resources, a technology roadmap for Brazilian refineries is
important.


426
There is a need to differentiate between treatment of refinery wastewater for discharge into
water bodies and for reuse in other refinery units. The second case requires more advanced
treatment systems, because the quality requirements are higher. Some examples of
treatment techniques are reverse osmosis and reverse electrodialysis, with cost being the
main barrier to widespread adoption of both (see Section 3). The first case requires more
rudimentary treatment systems, as presented in Section 2.
This chapter addresses the problem identified above by presenting a technology roadmap
for reuse of the effluents produced by Brazilian oil refineries, which have a great need to
minimize water use, a need that can be met through the significant recent technological
advances. Section 2 presents the conventional treatment of refinery wastewater while
Section 3 lays out the proposed technology roadmap for wastewater treatment for reuse by
refineries, analyzing the following technologies: membranes, membrane bioreactors (MBRs),
reverse osmosis, reverse electrodialysis, ion exchange and advanced oxidative processes.
Section 4 presents estimates of the costs and perspectives for application of these
technologies in Brazil. Finally, Section 5 presents the conclusions of this chapter.
2. Conventional treatment of oil refinery effluents
The main contaminants in wastewater from refineries are oils and greases, which can exist
in three forms: free (droplets with diameters larger than 150 m), dispersed (droplets in the
range of 20 to 150 m) and emulsified (droplets smaller than 20 m) (Cheryan &
Rajagopalan, 1998).
The conventional methods to treat oily wastewater include (Cheryan & Rajagopalan, 1998):
Gravity separation;
Dissolved air flotation;
Demulsification;
Coagulation;
Flocculation;
Biological treatment.
Gravity separation is an efficient and low-cost method to remove free oil from wastewater
(Cheryan & Rajagopalan, 1998). It is the first step of treatment of oily effluents at refineries.
API (American Petroleum Institute) separators are the main such devices. This category also
includes parallel and corrugated plate separators.
The process for oil/water separation by gravity includes two mechanisms: decantation and
coalescence. The first mechanism occurs according to Stokes Law (Equation (1)), while the
second occurs through interactions at the interfaces of the dispersed oil droplets with the
surrounding water (Jaworski, 2009). According to Equation (1), the smaller the oil droplet
diameter, the more time it will take to separate the oil from the water.
Vr = gDo
2
(w o) / 18a

(1)
Here Vr is the velocity of rise, g is the acceleration of gravity, w and o are the density of
water and oil, respectively, Do is the oil droplet diameter and a is the absolute viscosity of
water.
In API separators, part of the oil accumulates at the liquids surface because of its lower
specific gravity than water, but oil in emulsion and small oil droplets (with diameters under
150 m) are not separated. The part that rises is skimmed off, while another fraction,

Technology Roadmap for Wastewater Reuse in Petroleum Refineries in Brazil

427
consisting of oil-soaked solids, settles to the bottom of the separator, where it is also
removed. To prevent the formation of very small particles that cannot be separated by this
method, it is important that the wastewater in the outlet pipes and drainage systems be
carefully conveyed, to avoid generating turbulence, such as that caused by pumps or
sudden falls. It is also important to avoid the presence of emulsifiers (Braile, 1979).
In general, refineries rely on the design standards of the manual entitled Disposal of
Refinery Wastes, according to which API separators can be installed to work in series with
parallel plate interceptors (PPI) or corrugated plate interceptors (CPI), the last of which are
more modern and besides separating oil from the water, can also remove part of the solid
material. With PPI or CPI separators, it is possible to remove oil droplets with sizes down to
75 m, representing an additional recovery of from 10 to 30 mg of oil per liter (Braile, 1979).
PPIs and CPIs improve the gravity separation because this process is based on the droplets
reaching the continuous phase before leaving the separator, which is enhanced by
increasing the specific surface area and reducing the height through which the oil droplets
must rise before reaching the surface. Both of these devices accomplish this improvement
(Jaworski, 2009).
Flotation is a technique initially used in ore processing for selective separation of one type of
solid from another, through the different specific gravities of the desired and undesired
solids. But with recent advances, flotation devices are increasingly being used for treatment
of industrial effluents. According to Rubio et al. (2002), these advances include the higher
efficiency of modern equipment, new separation schemes, selective recovery of valuable
ions (such as gold, palladium and silver) and lower generation of sludge.
Dissolved air flotation (DAF) is the technique most often used to treat industrial effluents,
particularly oil refinery wastewater. It works through the formation of micro-bubbles, by
pre-saturating the effluent with air at pressures of 3 to 6 atm and then rapidly reducing this
pressure to 1 atm. By this process, the solution first becomes oversaturated under pressure
and then when the pressure drops the air forms micro-bubbles with diameters of between 50
and 100 m through nucleation/cavitation, rupturing the fluids structure (Rubio et al.,
2002; Luz et al., 2002).
Since oil is hydrophobic, with weak affinity for water, it tends to join with the air micro-
bubbles and is carried to the top of the device. This process can be enhanced by the addition
of surfactants, which work by controlling the surface properties of the oil droplets, making
them more hydrophobic and easier to separate out selectively (Luz et al., 2002; Al-Shamrani
et al., 2002). The most important factors in designing and dimensioning industrial DAF
systems are the characteristics of the saturator, the air/solids ratio, the hydraulic discharge
and the micro-bubble generation system (Luz et al., 2002).
Conventional biological treatment is not able to remove all organic compounds to satisfy
wastewater discharge standards. Therefore, pretreatment through biological purification is
necessary. Among these processes, dissolved air flotation is the most common (Hami et al.,
2007). These authors studied the effect of adding powdered activated carbon on the removal
of pollutants in terms of BOD (biological oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen
demand) in a pilot-scale dissolved air flotation unit with a conical bottom, aiming to
improve efficiency in adsorption of pollutants. They found that BOD and COD declined
considerably with the addition of the activated carbon to the wastewater, and that
increasing the quantity of activated carbon enhanced the pollutant removal efficiency (in %)
for both BOD and COD.


428
Primary separators are used to break oil-water emulsions, allowing the demulsified oil to be
separated from the water. Chemical methods (mainly addition of ferric and aluminum salts)
are most commonly utilized. In this case, the process in general consists of rapid mixture of
chemical coagulants with the wastewater, followed by flocculation and
flotation/decantation. In turn, physical methods include heating, centrifugation,
ultrafiltration and membrane processes (Yang, 2007).
There are various methods of breaking down emulsions and promoting coalescence of the
oil droplets, after which they can be separated by gravity differential methods (Braile, 1979).
Heating is used to reduce viscosity, accentuate density differences and weaken the
interfacial films that stabilize the oil phase (Cheryan & Rajagopalan, 1998). Distillation is
employed in some particularly resistant emulsions. Adjustment of the pH can destroy the
protective colloid and permit sedimentation, which in some cases can also be achieved by
aeration or chemical coagulation. Centrifugation increases the sedimentation force and can
be used alone or together with heat or addition of chemical products. Filtration with
diatomaceous earth or another element to assist filtration normally works well (Braile, 1979).
In the case of chemical treatment, it is important to choose the right mixture of chemicals
and optimize the process to reduce operating costs and enhance effectiveness (Cheryan &
Rajagopalan, 1998).
Yang (2007) explained the mechanism of breaking down water-oil emulsions with
electrochemical methods (electrochemical coagulation). This consists of an electrochemical
reactor formed by iron electrodes (negative cathode and positive anode). During
electrolysis, a DC voltage is applied to the electrodes, dissolving ferrous ions (Fe(II)) at the
anode. These ions are in turn oxidized into ferric ions (Fe(III)), destabilizing the emulsion:
Fe
(s)
Fe
(aq)
2+
+ 2e
-
Fe
(aq)
3+
+ 3e
-
, (2)
2H
2
O + 2e
-
2H
2(g)
+ 2OH
(aq)
-
, (3)
Fe
(aq)
3+
+ 3OH
(aq)
-
Fe(OH)
3(s).
(4)
The coagulation is promoted by the addition of inorganic multivalent electrolytes, in general
containing hydrosoluble cations, such as Al
3+
and Fe
3+
(Luz et al., 2002), and occurs when
the attractive surface forces overcome the repulsive forces, allowing clots to form. The
DLVO theory, named after the scientists who developed it independently (Derjaguin &
Landau, 1941 and Verwey & Overbeek, 1948), explains the stability of colloid systems. This
theory is based on the energy variations observed due to the aggregation of particles,
considering only the Van der Waals attraction and electrostatic repulsion (Luz et al., 2002).
The potential interaction energy (V
T
) is obtained by the balance of attractive (V
A
)

and
repulsive (V
R
) interactions, as shown in Equation (5),
(V
T
= V
A
+ V
R
)

(5)
Aggregation occurs when V
A
>V
R,
while dispersion occurs when V
A
<V
R
(Luz et al., 2002). In
the case of two identical spherical particles, Equations (6) and (7) hold:
V
A
= -Aa / 12d (6)
V
R
= 2a
2
exp (-d), (7)


429
where A is the Hamaker constant, a is the radius of the particles, is the permittivity of the
solution, is the zeta potential and is the Debye-Huckel parameter, or the inverse of the
double electric layer thickness.
Flocculation involves the addition of a polymer, called a flocculant, which promote the
aggregation of fine particles to form flakes. The polymers can be classified in three ways: by
origin (natural, modified or synthetic), molecular weight (low or high molecular weight)
and electrical charge (neutral, anionic or cationic). The aggregates can be formed
independently of the structural forces involved. The efficiency of the process depends,
among other factors, on the choice of the proper flocculant, the way it is applied, the
chemical environment, the systems hydrodynamics and the sizes of the particles (Luz et al.,
2002).
Biological treatment is particularly useful to remove biodegradable organic matter from
refinery wastewater. The main techniques are aerated lagoons, activated sludge and
biodiscs.
Aerated lagoons are artificial basins built to hold large volumes of effluents. They can be
built above or below the original land surface. The aeration is not strictly natural; it is
enhanced by the artificial introduction of oxygen, required by the organisms that
decompose the soluble organic and fine particulate matter (Matos, 2005).
In aerated lagoons, the aeration energy defines whether the liquid mass will be held in total
or partial suspension. These lagoons can be classified as facultative aerated lagoons or
suspension mixed lagoons. In the first case, the formation and separation of biological flakes
occurs in the lagoon itself, because the energy supplied to the aeration equipment is limited,
ranging between 0.75 and 1.5 W/m, which is insufficient to keep the sludge in suspension,
so that solids settle in the lagoon. In the second case, the objective is to convert the soluble
biodegradable organic material into biomass that can settle as sludge, which is done in
secondary sedimentation ponds. The formation of biological flakes also occurs in the lagoon,
but the aeration energy is greater than or equal to 3.0 W/m, preventing the sedimentation
of solids, which as stated, occurs in a secondary sedimentation pond. The removal rate in
aerated lagoons is in general between 80 and 90% for total suspended solids (TSS), 65 and
80% for COD and 50 and 95% for BOD, depending on the type of setup (Matos, 2005).
The activated sludge process is carried out in two main compartments: the aeration tank and
the clarification tank (Figure 1). Microorganisms (specific types of bacteria) are used for
biological degradation of the effluent. Some bacteria need an environment rich in oxygen
(aerobic), while others need one poor in oxygen (anaerobic). The conversion products are
water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and dead microorganisms (called surplus sludge). In the
aeration tank the wastewater and activated sludge are mixed so that the conversion reaction
can occur. Then the activated sludge is separated out of the liquid in the other compartment
by sedimentation. Most of the sludge precipitated out is returned to the aeration tank to
repeat the process, but an excess portion is purged. Without this purge, the activated slugde
concentration would increase too much, reducing the sedimentation efficiency in the
clarification tank (Oever, 2005).
In general treatment in a series of aerated lagoons is less expensive in terms of initial
investment in equipment, but requires sufficient space. An activated sludge separation unit
requires less area, but has higher operating cost and performs better. More demanding
clean-up standards regarding removal of certain recalcitrant pollutants, mainly biomass, are
only attained with units that enable extended residence times. Through knowledge of the


430
phenomena that govern the transformations of the biodegradable and oxidizable
compounds is important to assure good performance of new biological treatment units or to
improve the performance of existing ones. Modeling these complex phenomena in advance
is an important step in this sense (Piras, 1993).

Fig. 1. Diagram of a conventional activated sludge process (Oever, 2005).
Biodiscs are cylindrical structures of plastic discs supported by a central axis. These
structures are mounted horizontally above tanks so that about 30 to 40% of each disc is
submersed in the liquid during rotation. The most common configuration is a disc diameter
of 3.6 m (12 ft) by 8.2 m in length (27 ft). A typical biodisc system is in operation at the
REFAP refinery in Brazil. It consists of four sets of discs. In the first set, the microorganisms,
with adequate conditions in terms of oxygen, substrate, pH, ammonia and phosphate, attach
themselves to the discs and start to grow, forming a biofilm. This biofilm uses the oxygen
and organic carbon dissolved in the wastewater, removing the organic load by the action of
heterotrophic bacteria. In the second set, the biofilm promotes nitrification by the action of
nitrosomonas and nitrobacter bacteria. In the third set, the biofilm promotes denitrification
by the action of specific bacteria. Finally, in the fourth set the process works as in the first
set, to remove the residual organic load from the addition of methanol in the denitrification
process (Ferreira et al., 2000).
3. Technological roadmap for wastewater treatment at oil refineries aiming at
reuse
The objective of this chapter is to study the best available techniques (BATs) for treatment of
oil refinery wastewater for purposes of reuse.
The expression best available techniques is defined in Section 5 of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Acts, 1992 and 2003, and Section 5(2) of the Waste Management Acts,
1996 to 2005, as the most effective and advanced stage in the development of an activity
and its methods of operation, which indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques
for providing, in principle, the basis for emission limit values designed to prevent or
eliminate or, where that is not practicable, generally to reduce an emission and its impact on
the environment as a whole, where best in relation to techniques means the most effective in
achieving a high general level of protection of the environment as a whole, available
techniques means those techniques developed on a scale which allows implementation in the


431
relevant class of activity under economically the technically viable conditions, taking into
consideration the costs and advantages, whether or not the techniques are used or produced
within the State, as long as they are reasonably accessible to the person carrying out the
activity, and techniques includes both the technology used and the way in which the
installation is designed, built, managed, maintained, operated and decommissioned (EPA,
2008).
In designing an advanced treatment unit for secondary wastewater, the following aspects
should be considered (Teodosiu et al., 1999):
complete characterization of the effluent;
the level of dissolved solids that can be reduced by coagulation-flocculation,
sedimentation and/or filtration with sand, microfiltration or ultrafiltration;
the dissolved organic matter that can be removed by adsorption with activated carbon,
chemical oxidation, reverse osmosis, and ultrafiltration for solid organic matter;
the dissolved solids that can be removed by reverse osmosis, ion exchange and
electrodialysis;
the possibility of integrating the proposed unit with existing installations; and
the capital and operating costs.
The wastewater treatment methods for reuse at refineries can be classified as primary,
secondary and tertiary. The primary methods are the simplest, including techniques such as
oil/water separation and dissolved air flotation. These are considered conventional
treatment techniques (see Section 2). Secondary treatment at refineries is used to remove a
substantial part of the biodegradable organic matter. Tertiary treatment aims to remove ions
(dissolved salts), to bring the quality up to the level required for reuse, mainly to feed
cooling towers or boilers.
3.1 Membranes for micro, ultra and nanofiltration
Membrane processes are used to treat stable oil/water emulsions, especially water-soluble
oily wastes, rather than oil floating in unstable emulsions, for which other methods are more
suitable (Cheryan, 1998, as cited in Cheryan & Rajagopalan, 1998). Membranes are effective
in removing oil droplets with micrometric size, usually smaller than 10 m, and when the
oil concentration is very low (Chakrabarty et al., 2008). These cases cannot be resolved by
conventional techniques such as gravity separation, addition of chemical agents, thermal
demulsification and biological treatment. The porous membrane matrix promotes
coalescence of the micrometric and sub-micrometric oil droplets, which then can be easily
removed by gravity (Hlavacek, 1995).
Membrane processes have several advantages, among them lower capital cost, no need to
add chemicals and no subsequent generation of oily sludge (Ohya et al., 1998); operational
simplicity, lower energy costs than for thermal treatment (Cheryan & Rajagopalan, 1998)
and the capacity to produce a permeate with acceptable quality for discharge (Chakrabarty
et al., 2008).
A membrane is a barrier that serves to separate two phases by selectively restricting the
passage of chemical agents. A membrane can be homogeneous or heterogeneous, with a
symmetric or asymmetric structure, and solid or liquid. It can selectively conduct a positive
or negative charge or be neutral or bipolar. The transport through the membrane can be by
convection or diffusion of individual molecules, by induction by an electrical field or by
pressure or temperature gradient. The membranes thickness can range from tens of microns
to a few hundreds of micrometers (Ravanchi et al., 2009).


432
The pores of the membrane act as a physical barrier to impurities while permitting the
passage of water molecules. A driving force must be applied to promote transport of the
solution through the membrane. The main driving forces are pressure difference,
concentration (or activity) difference including difference in chemical potential () or
difference in electrical potential between the two sides of the membrane (Ravanchi et al.,
2009).
The permeate flux (Jp) and the selectivity of the membrane to a determined component of
the feed solution are important properties for operation of membrane systems (Habert et al.,
2006). The permeate flux in processes that use pressure difference as the driving force
(microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) is given by Equation (8).
The membranes selective capacity can be calculated by the retention coefficient (R), defined
as the fraction of the solution retained (retentate) by the membrane for a given feed
concentration (Equation (9)):
J
P
= L
P
(P - ),

(8)
where L
P
is the hydraulic permeability (in L/m
2
h bar); P is the pressure difference (in bar);
and is the osmotic pressure difference (in bar). J
P
is therefore given in L/m
2
h. In turn, the
retention coefficient is given by the following formula:
R (%) = [(Cf-Cp)/Ca] x 100,

(9)
where Cf is the feed solute concentration (ppm) and Cp is the solute concentration of the
permeate (ppm).
Figure 2 presents the range of pore diameters and retention efficiencies of micro, ultra and
nanofiltration membranes and of the reverse osmosis process (Perry & Green, 2007).

Note: RO - Reverse osmosis; NF - Nanofiltration; UF - Ultrafiltration; MF - Microfiltration.
Fig. 2. Range of pore diameters and removal efficiencies of micro, ultra and nanofiltration
membranes and the reverse osmosis process (Perry & Green, 2007).
3.1.1 Microfiltration
Microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes are used after conventional treatment
techniques and as pretreatment just before reverse osmosis, to prolong the useful life of the


433
RO membrane and reduce incrustation (fouling) and operational costs of this process. They
can also be used as part of a membrane bioreactor, to retain biomass, as will be discussed
shortly. Microfiltration membranes are operated at a pressure of under 2.0 bar (Wagner,
2001).
Fouling is one of the main problems reducing the efficiency of membrane filters. It is caused
by various factors, such as clogging of the pores, adsorption of solute by the membrane and
formation of a gel on the membrane surface, among others. Fouling causes a gradual decline
in the permeate flux when all the other parameters are constant (pressure, flow, temperature
and feed concentration). Fouling can be either reversible or irreversible. The distinction is a
consequence of the characteristics of the deposit formed on the membrane surface
(temporary or permanent) and the possibilities of restoring the initial flux by backwashing
or chemical cleaning. It also raises operating costs because of the higher pressure required to
maintain the retention rate and the need to clean the membrane or to replace it in cases of
irreversible fouling (Teodosiu et al., 1999).
3.1.2 Ultrafiltration
Ultrafiltration membranes are operated at a pressure range of 1.0 to 10.0 bar (Wagner, 2001).
Teodosiu et al. (1999) studied the use of ultrafiltration (dual filtration with membranes made
of polyethersulphone and polyvinylpirollidone) as pretreatment for reverse osmosis, for the
purpose of recycling secondary refinery wastewater to feed cooling towers. An average
efficiency of 98% was obtained for turbidity, meaning almost complete removal of
suspended solids and colloids, along with efficiency of 30% for COD in the tests.
In a system with ultrafiltration followed by reverse osmosis, the ultrafiltration can remove
the suspended and colloidal material, bacteria, viruses and organic compounds, while the
reverse osmosis removes dissolved salts, as will be discussed shortly. The quality
requirements for cooling water are related to the limits established for substances that can
cause scaling, corrosion, fouling and growth of microorganisms, all of which reduce the
performance of cooling towers. Scaling is caused by the presence of carbonates and calcium
and magnesium sulfates, which precipitate as scales in heat exchangers. Corrosion is related
to the presence of large quantities of dissolved solids, including chloride and ammonia.
Microorganisms grow because of the presence of high concentrations of nutrients or organic
substances. And fouling occurs mainly due to the presence of high levels of suspended
solids, although organic fouling via adsorption of dissolved organic compounds is also a
problem (Teodosiu et al., 1999).
Chakrabarty et al. (2008) used modified polysulfone membranes with the objective of
attaining higher porosity and hydrophobicity through the use of additives such as
polyvinylpirollidone and polyethylene glycol to remove oil from wastewater. The
experiments were conducted in 12 different membranes in a semi-batch filtration cell made
of Teflon. The authors evaluated the influence of feed properties such as initial oil
concentration and pH of the solution on membrane performance. They concluded that these
characteristics significantly affect the permeate flux and oil separation. With increasing
concentration the flux diminished and the retention increased due to the formation of an oil
layer on the membrane surface, leading to an increase in total resistance. With relation to
pH, increased acidity or alkalinity of the feed solution caused greater oil retention for the
four membranes selected in this analysis by the authors. The permeate flux varied according
to the chemical composition of the membrane studied, and was highest under normal pH


434
condition (of 6.12) in some cases, and at slightly alkaline pH (8.00) and slightly acid (5.00)
conditions in other cases.
3.1.3 Nanofiltration
Nanofiltration membranes are operated at a pressure varying from 5 to 35 bar (Wagner,
2001). Nanofiltration membranes are generally used to separate multivalent ions and
organic compounds with relatively low molecular weights (250 -1000 g/mol) from water.
The treatment removes between 60 and 80% of the water hardness, over 90% of the color
and all the turbidity (Bessarabov & Twardowski 2002).
In aqueous solutions, the nanofiltration membranes become charged, permitting the
separation of ionic species. It is believed that steric hindrance is the dominant retention
mechanism in these membranes for colloids and large molecules, while physico-chemical
interactions between the solute and membrane are more important for ions and organic
materials with lower molecular weights. Figure 3 shows a hypothetical polymeric
nanofiltration membrane with carboxyl groups linked at the membrane surface, which are
produced in contact with an aqueous solution of an electrolyte. The presence of the carboxyl
groups dissociated at the membrane surface (R-COO
-
) causes the occurrence of membrane
charging (Bessarabov & Twardowski, 2002).

Fig. 3. Hypothetical polymeric nanofiltration membrane containing carboxyl groups. The
presence of these groups dissociated at the membrane surface (R-COO
-
) causes membrane
charging. This charge repels large SO
4
2-
ions and permits the passage of smaller Cl
-
ions
through the membrane (Bessarabov & Twardowski, 2002).
3.2 Membrane bioreactors (MBR)
Membrane bioreactors (MBR) remove a large amount of biodegradable material (measured
as BOD and COD) from oil refinery wastewater.
MBR systems consist of a combination of the activated sludge biological process (see Section 2)
with the membrane separation process. The reaction occurs like it does in the activated sludge
process, with the added advantage of being able to operate without the need for clarification
or steps like sand filtration (Melin et al., 2006). These systems use micro or ultrafiltration to
separate the effluent from the activated sludge. The two main MBR configurations involve
submerged or external separation membranes, as depicted in Figure 4.


435

Fig. 4. Configuration of MBR systems. (a) Submerged MBR. (b) Lateral flow MBR (Melin et
al., 2006).
The first option is more often applied to treat municipal wastewater (Melin et al., 2006), and
can use both hollow fiber membranes (horizontal or vertical) and flat plate membranes
(vertical). In side flow MBR systems, tubular membranes (horizontal or vertical) are placed
outside the bioreactor and are fed by it. This system operates by cross-flow. Both systems
are aerated at the lower part of the bioreactor, and the permeate is removed by suction
(Oever, 2005).
As in regular membrane processes, fouling is a problem of membrane bioreactors, by
hindering the permeate flux during filtration. This problem is influenced by the
characteristics of the biomass, the operating conditions and characteristics of the membrane
(Chang et al., 2002). The cost of periodically replacing the membrane because of aging and
fouling raises the operating costs and reduces the competitiveness of the MBR technology
(Buetehorn et al., 2008). Fouling is also influenced by the hydrodynamic conditions, type of
membrane and configuration of the unit, as well as by the presence of compounds with high
molecular weight, which can be produced by microbial metabolism or introduced by the
sludge growth process (Melin et al., 2006).
Viero et al. (2008) evaluated the treatment of oil refinery wastewater using a submerged
membrane bioreactor (SMBR), operating at a constant permeate flux. During the operation,
high organic loading rates were applied to the unit by feeding mixtures of the effluent
stream with another effluent having high phenolic strength, also generated by oil refineries.
The influence of the loading rate on the filtration was assessed, including the effects on the
production of soluble microbial products (polysaccharides and proteins) and the retention
of these compounds by the membrane. The membrane played a key role in the process,
since it improved the COD and TOC (total organic carbon) removal efficiencies by 17 and
20%, respectively, in comparison with the results obtained with biomass alone. The authors
observed that good efficiencies in removing organic matter, indicated by the COD and TOC
results, were achieved considering the complexity of the wastewater stream processed.
Additionally, the tested system was highly effective in removing phenols.


436
Scholz & Fuchsm (2000) reported tests of a MBR with high activated sludge concentration
(above 48 g/L) and showed that oily wastewater also containing surfactants was biodegraded
with high efficiency. During the different loading stages, a removal rate of 99.99% was attained
for fuel oil as well as for lubricating oil, at a hydraulic retention time of 13.3 hours. The
maximum biodegradation of the fuel oil was 0.82g of hydrocarbons degraded per day. The
average removal of COD and TOC during the experiments was 94-96% for fuel oil and 98% for
lubricating oil, respectively. Because of the high efficiency in removing oily pollutants and
complete retention of suspended solids by the ultrafiltration system, the authors stated the
MBR system has good potential for industrial applications aiming to recycle effluents. The
MBR removed 93-98% of the COD and 95-98% of TOC in a hydraulic retention time of 7-14 h
and oil loading rates of 3-5 g/L/day (Scholz & Fuchsm, 2000).
3.3 Reverse osmosis
Along with the reverse electrodialysis process, described next, reverse osmosis is used to
remove ions (dissolved salts) from oil refinery wastewater, as part of the tertiary treatment
cycle.
Reverse osmosis is by far the most common membrane process used for desalination. It can
reject nearly all the colloidal or dissolved material in an aqueous solution, producing
concentrated salty water and a permeate of virtually pure fresh water. Reverse osmosis is
based on the property of certain polymers called semi-permeability. While semi-permeable
membranes are highly permeable to water, they have low permeability to dissolved
substances. When a pressure difference is applied across the membrane, the water molecules
contained in the feed stream are forced to permeate through the membrane. This pressure
must be high enough to overcome the osmotic pressure working against the feed (Fritzmann
et al., 2007). This pressure is generally in the range of 15 to 150 bar (Wagner, 2001).
The osmosis process occurs when a semi-permeable membrane (permeable to water but not
to the solute) separates the feed liquid into two aqueous solutions with different
concentrations. At equal temperature and pressure on both sides of the membrane, the
water will diffuse (permeate) through the membrane, resulting in an overall flow of the
diluted solution to the more concentrated one until the concentrations on both sides of the
membrane are equal. If the pressure differential (p) is greater than the osmotic pressure
(), the flow is reversed and the water flows from the concentrated to the diluted side. This
process is called reverse osmosis. In water desalination, the feed side is operated under high
pressure and the concentration of the solute on the permeate side (diluted) is negligible
when compared to the feed concentration. In this case permeate flux occurs because the p
exceeds the of the feed solution (Fritzmann et al., 2007).
According to Nazarov et al. (1979), reverse osmosis can be employed to desalt waste streams
from crude oil electric desalting units, where the salt content of these streams is very high
(above 5,000 mg/L, including 75-85% sodium chloride, 4-5% magnesium chloride and 10-
15% calcium chloride). They also mentioned the following aspects as advantages of reverse
osmosis: the components (salts and water) are separated at ambient temperature without
any phase conversion of the water (heating or cooling); the osmotic module is simple to
design and operate; and the process can be fully automated. As disadvantages, they
mentioned the difficulty of manufacturing reverse osmosis membranes, the low capacity of
these membranes and the need to pre-treat the effluent to remove solid and emulsified
contaminants or dissolved organic and inorganic substances.
In reverse osmosis, a dynamic layer of water and solutes is formed on the membrane
surface. Only molecules of a strictly determined size will penetrate through this layer and


437
through the membrane. Larger molecules do not pass through the membrane and are
removed from the membrane surface under the influence of repulsive forces and
longitudinal displacement of the liquid. Therefore, two streams are moving at the same
time, a flow of liquid (water) and substances with low molecular weights through the layer
of the membrane due to the difference in concentrations of these substances on either side of
the membrane, and a flow of liquid and substances with high molecular weights from the
surface of the membrane to within the solution, with subsequent carry-off (by purging) from
the separation zone (Nazarov et al., 1979).
3.4 Reverse electrodialysis
The reverse electrodialysis process is also used to remove ions (dissolved salts) from oil
refinery wastewater.
Electrodialysis can be used to concentrate or remove charged species in aqueous solutions.
The process is based on the movement of charged species in an electrical field. Dissolved
anions, such as Cl
-
and NO
3-
, move towards the anode while cations, such as K
+
and Na
+
,
are attracted by the cathode. The movement of the ions is controlled by ion-selective
membranes placed between the anode and cathode. Anion-exchange membranes (AEMs)
are permeable to anions but not to cations, which are thus retained. Cation-exchange
membranes (CEMs) work analogously but in the opposite way. The electrolysis device is
divided into various cells by an alternating sequence of AEMs and CEMs. In this way, the
concentration of ionic species is reduced in the diluted compartments and increased in the
concentrate compartments. The basic unit of a device consists of a diluted compartment and
a concentrate compartment in tandem (Fritzmann et al., 2007).
Figure 5 shows a diagram of the reverse electrodialysis process. The electrodes polarity is

Note: CEM - Cation Exchange Membrane; AEM - Anion Exchange Membrane.
Fig. 5. The principle of reverse electrodialysis.


438
periodically reversed, so that the direction of the ion movement is also reversed. Therefore,
the concentrate streams become diluted streams and vice versa. The periodic switching of
polarity works as a self-cleaning mechanism, reducing the surface fouling of the ion-
exchange membrane. Reverse electrodialysis systems are physically and chemically more
durable than reverse osmosis systems and can support effluent flows with higher loads of
organic matter, colloid particles and microorganisms than can reverse osmosis systems
(Chao & Liang, 2008).
3.5 Ion exchange
Ion exchange processes occur with the substitution of the undesirable ions of a liquid (such
as wastewater) with ions like H
+
and OH
-
from a solid material in which the ions are
sufficiently mobile, usually a synthetic resin. Eventually the resin becomes exhausted and
needs to be regenerated by contact with a small quantity of a solution with a high content of
the desired ion. Resins can be tailored to have selective affinities for particular types of ions,
such as mercury, boron, ferrous ions or copper in the presence of iron (Couper et al., 2010).
An important property of these ion-exchange resins is their capacity to retain ions in their
structure.
There are specific resins for each ion species: cationic, with the capacity to retain cations, and
anionic, specific for retention of anions. Within these two groups of resins there is a further
subdivision, summarized below. Each of these is suitable to remove specific ions and has
particularities in its regeneration processes (Mierzwa & Hespanhol, 2005).
Strongly acidic cation-exchange resin: This type of resin has a chemical structure formed
by styrene and divinylbenzene. Its functional groups are sulfonic acid radicals (R-SO
3
-
H
+
). It can operate in a broad pH range and can be conditioned to operate in a sodium
or hydrogen cycle, depending on the application: water softening or demineralization.
Weakly acidic cation-exchange resin: Its functional groups are carboxylated (R-COOH),
which are not ionized at low pH values. Therefore, this type of resin operates at pH
values varying from neutral to alkaline. These resins are used to treat industrial water
with high hardness, exclusively for calcium bicarbonate and carbonate.
Strongly basis anion-exchange resin: Its functional group is quaternary amine (R-
N(CN
3
)
3
+
). There are two sub-groups: Type I and Type II. The difference between these
is basicity. Type I resins have a stronger basicity than Type II resins, and for this reason
produce better output water, with less anion leakage principally of silica.
Weakly basic anion-exchange resin: This type of resin is employed in water treatment
systems designed mainly to remove anions from strong acids, among them chloride,
sulfate and nitrate, because this type of resin is not able to remove weakly ionizable
anions, among them bicarbonate and silica.
Except in very small-scale applications, ion exchangers are used in cyclical operations,
involving sorption and desorption steps. A typical ion-exchange cycle used in water
treatment applications involves: (a) backwashing: to remove accumulated solids and to
fluidize the exchanger bed; (b) regeneration: a regenerant passes slowly through the
exchanger to restore its original ionic form; (c) rinsing: water passes through the exchanger
to remove the resin regenerant (in the case of porous exchangers, from the resins pores);
and (d) loading: the solution to be treated passes through the exchanger until the leakage
starts to occur. Water softening occurs in this way, with a cation-exchange column
containing sodium. At the low ionic strength used in the loading step, calcium and
magnesium are strongly preferred over sodium, permitting nearly all of it to be removed.


439
Since the selectivity for divalent cations diminishes sharply with ionic concentration, the
regeneration is performed effectively with a concentrated sodium chloride solution.
Removal of sulfates from boiler feed water is carried out by similar means with anion
exchangers in chloride form (Perry & Green, 2007).
Therefore, the ion-exchange process can treat effluents that contain dissolved ionic species,
such as metals (Al
3+
, Pb
2+
, Sr
2+
, etc.), inorganic anions (F
-
, NO
3-
, SO
4
2-
, CN
-
, etc.) and organic
acids (carboxylic, phenolic, etc.), among others. The advantages of using ion exchange are:
(i) the generation of an outflow with higher quality than produced by other processes; (ii)
the selective removal of undesired species; (iii) the fact that the process and equipment have
been widely tested; (iv) the availability of automatic and manual systems in the market; and
(v) the possibility of using them to treat small and large volumes of wastewater. In contrast,
the disadvantages are: (i) the chemical products involved in the regeneration process; (ii) the
relatively high concentration of contaminants and other compounds in the outflow; (iii) the
possibility that organic substances, microorganisms, suspended particles and other
substances will degrade or reduce the treatment capacity of the resins; and (iv) the possible
impairment of the process by small variations in the feed stream characteristics (Mierzwa &
Hespanhol, 2005).
3.6 Advanced oxidative processes
Advanced oxidative processes are characterized by producing OH radicals, an
extraordinarily reactive chemical species that attacks the majority of organic molecules.
These processes can be used in pre- or post-treatment in a biological process, contributing to
the degradation of toxic or refractory substances (Coelho, 2004). Table 1 summarizes the
existing advanced oxidative processes (Andreozzi et al., 1999).

Advanced oxidative processes
H
2
O
2
/ Fe
2+
Fenton
H
2
O
2
/ Fe
3+
Fenton-like
H
2
O
2
/ Fe
2+
(Fe
3+
) / UV Photo / Fenton
H
2
O
2
/ Fe
3+
- Oxalate Photo / Fenton like
Mn
2+
/ Oxalic Acid / Ozone
TiO
2
/ UV / O
2
Photocatalysis
O
3
/ H
2
O
2
Peroxidation
O
3
/ UV Oxidation by O
3
/ UV
H
2
O
2
/ UV Oxidation by H
2
O
2
/ UV
Table 1. Advanced oxidative processes (Andreozzi et al., 1999).
Some of the processes cited above are described in more detail below (Castro, 2004). The
Fenton, photo-Fenton, ozone and H
2
O
2
/UV processes act in the following form (Reactions
(10), (11), (12), (13), (14), respectively - Reactions (12) and (13) refer to the process with
ozone):
H
2
O
2
+ Fe
2+
Fe
3+
+ OH
-
+ OH

(10)
Fe
3+
+ H
2
O + hv Fe
2+
+ OH + H
+
(11)


440
O
3
+ OH
-
O
2
+ O
2
(12)
O
3
+ H
2
O 2OH + O
2
(13)
H
2
O
2
(hv) 2 OH (14)
Equations (15) to (19) represent the reactions between organic substances and the hydroxyl
radical (Castro, 2004):
Addition
Ar-H + OH Ar-OH + H

(15)
Abstraction of hydrogen:
R-H + OH H
2
O + R

(16)
Electron transfer:
R + O
2
ROO

(17)
Termination (interaction of radicals):
R + R R-R

(18)
OH + OH H
2
O
2
(19)
Coelho et al. (2006) investigated the performances of various advanced oxidative processes
to remove organic pollutants from sourwater from oil refineries. The preliminary
experiments were conducted using the H
2
O
2
, H
2
O
2
/UV, UV, photocatalysis, ozonization,
Fenton and photo-Fenton processes. Only the Fenton and photo-Fenton processes produced
satisfactory results, considered to be reduction of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of the
sourwater by 35%. For this reason, these two techniques were analyzed in more detail.
The authors observed that the photo-Fenton process was very rapid, taking only a few
minutes to attain a final DOC removal of 13-27% due to the formation of iron complexes.
Radiation for an additional period of 60 minutes was found to increase the DOC removal to
above 87%. DOC removal rates above 75% were achieved when the reaction system was
operated at hydraulic retention times longer than 85 min. In the batch experiments, the
maximum DOC removal was 87%, using 4 and 0.4 g/L of ferrous sulfate and hydrogen
peroxide, respectively. The Fenton reaction was also very fast, but lower DOC removal rates
were attained, depending on the ferrous sulfate concentration used. The photo-Fenton
process, meanwhile, was able to improve the DOC removal in a short interval (50 min),
leading to high overall performance levels. The highest DOC removal (94%) was achieved
with continuous operation of the combined processes (Fenton and photo-Fenton), when the
system was operating with a hydraulic retention time of 1200 min. However, appreciable
DOC removal rates (greater than 75%) were also obtained with hydraulic retention times in
the range of 60 to 120 min. (Coelho et al., 2006).
4. Assessment of the costs and applications in Brazil
Wagner (2001) indicated the costs of membrane processes. According to him, the cost if
installing a plant with spiral filters is between US$ 300 and 500 per m
2
of membrane area,


441
while tubular systems are sold for more than US$ 1,000 per m
2
. The price of a flat plate
system ranges from US$ 200 to 300 per m
2
. The cost of units with a fiber membrane
configuration is US$ 1,700 per m
2
, while ceramic systems are the most expensive, at US$
10,000 per m
2
. These costs refer to complete systems, that is, membranes, internal pipes,
pumps and control equipment.
Spiral membranes were originally made for water desalination, but their compact
configuration and low cost make them attractive for industrial applications. Tubular
systems are simple and have the advantage of tolerating suspended solids and fibers. Flat
plate systems are robust and compact. Fiber membrane systems are mechanically more
fragile and thus are used only for determined ultrafiltration applications and oil emulsions.
Finally, ceramic systems can be very effective for microfiltration (Wagner, 2001).
Depending on the capacity, a membrane filtration system can cost around US$ 1300-
5300/m
3
/day, while the operating costs are between US$ 0.79-3.96/m
3
of treated
wastewater (micro and ultrafiltration technologies) (Cheryan & Rajagopalan, 1998).
Another source (CostWater, 2010) mentions the costs of membrane technology for
microfiltration to remove particulate matter according to treatment capacity. According to
this source, the costs are considerably lower than those mentioned above, ranging from US$
400/m
3
/day for treatment capacity of 38,000 m
3
/day to around US$ 600/m
3
/day for a
capacity of 3,800 m
3
/day.
Membranes are a promising technology for treatment of refinery wastewater for reuse. They
are generally used for pretreatment before reverse osmosis or reverse electrodialysis (micro
and ultrafiltration technologies). Figure 6 shows a diagram of an advanced wastewater
treatment system for reuse at oil refineries, considering ultra and microfiltration membranes
and reverse osmosis or reverse electrodialysis as tertiary treatment.

Fig. 6. Diagram of a wastewater treatment process for reuse at oil refineries (adapted from
CENPES, 2004).
For MBR systems, the costs of membrane bioreactors fell from US$ 400/m
2
to around US$
50/m
2
in the 1990s. Figures from the EPA show an operating cost of US$ 0.47/m
3
of treated
wastewater, including electricity, membrane exchange and chemical inputs but not
amortization of the initial outlay. Other estimates show the operating cost of MBR unit with
capacity of 3,785 m
3
/day is around US$ 0.11-0.15 per m
3
of treated effluent. These estimates
are much lower than that of the EPA. The operating cost per volume treated appears not to
very much with the systems capacity (CostWater, 2010).


442
Oever (2005) mentioned the AirLift MBR system, which uses air to create turbulence and
keep the membrane surface clean, with specific energy consumption of approximately 0.4 to
0.7 kWh/m
3
. This consumption would mean a cost of R$ 0.0965 to 0.1689/m
3
at the
industrial electricity tariff in the Southeast region of Brazil (where more than half of the
countrys refining capacity is located), at the rate in effect in December 2009 (R$
241.25/MWh) (ANEEL 2010). (US$ 1.00 = R$ 1.75228 on December 31, 2009.)
Figure 7 shows a diagram of an advanced refinery wastewater treatment system considering
membrane bioreactors for secondary treatment and reverse osmosis or reverse
electrodialysis as tertiary treatment (Torres at al., 2008).
As can be observed, the effluent system passes through the primary treatment processes and
then the oil polishing process, which can be by sand filtration, as shown in Figure 7, or
nutshell filtration (for protection of the membrane) (CENPES, 2005). Nutshells are highly
effective in absorbing free oil and suspended solids, due to their characteristic of promoting
the coalescence of oil droplets. Activated carbon filters help remove refractory organic
compounds from the biological process, allowing the treated effluent to be reused as
industrial water.

Note: GAC - Granulated Activated Carbon; RED - Reverse electrodialysis.
Fig. 7. Advanced oil refinery wastewater treatment (adapted from Torres et al., 2008).
Membrane bioreactors for wastewater reuse have been or are being installed at various
existing Petrobras refineries or will be at new refineries. Table 2 presents these projects
(Santiago, 2009).

Refinery Description Capacity (m
3
/h) Start of Operation
REVAP New Industrial Waste
Treatment Station
300 2009
CENPES* New Industrial Waste
Treatment Station
65 2010
REPAR New Industrial Waste
Treatment Station
400 2011
COMPERJ New Refinery 1100 2012
RENEST New Refinery 600 2012
REGAP New Biological
Treatment Unit
750 -
LUBNOR New Industrial Waste
Treatment Station
66 -
Note: * CENPES is a pilot project at the Petrobras Research Center.
Table 2. Membrane bioreactor units at refineries under construction (Santiago, 2009).


443

Fig. 8. Costs of wastewater treatment with ion exchange and competing technologies
(Rautenbach & Melin, 2003, as cited in Fritzmann et al., 2007).
The capital cost of the reverse osmosis technology in Brazil is from US$1454 to
4483/m
3
/day, while the operating cost ranges from US$ 0.12 to 0.37/m
3
(including
amortization of the investment, operation and maintenance and membrane substitution)
(OAS, 2010).
According to Fritzmann et al. (2007), electricity consumption of the reverse osmosis process
is between 0.4 and 7 kWh/m
3
of treated effluent. That consumption range would mean a
cost of R$ 0.0965 to 1.6888/m
3
, considering the industrial electricity tariff in the Southeast
region of Brazil in December 2009 (R$ 241.25/MWh) (ANEEL, 2010).
In treatment of refinery wastewater for reuse, reverse osmosis is used as tertiary treatment
to remove ions (such as chlorides), as already mentioned. The competing technology is
reverse electrodialysis.
According to Fritzmann et al. (2007), electrodialysis consumes 1 kWh of electricity per m
3
of
treated wastewater. At the average industrial energy rate in the Southeast region in
December 2009 (R$ 241.25/MWh), this would cost R$ 0.2413/m
3
(ANEEL, 2010).
Chao & Liang (2008) also estimated the operating cost of a mini reverse electrodialysis plant.
According to their calculations, the electricity consumption by electrodes and pumps is 0.85
kWh/m
3
of treated effluent, which works out to R$ 0.205/m
3
at the same industrial rate
applied above (ANEEL, 2010). They estimated the total operating costs, including electricity
and chemicals, at US$ 0.146/m
3
.
The reverse electrodialysis process is promising for removal of ions (such as chlorides) from
refinery wastewater, as mentioned. In a test program to analyze technologies to remove ions
for reuse of wastewater (reverse osmosis and reverse electrodialysis) at pilot units at the
REGAP refinery, reverse electrodialysis was the most promising. The advantage of this
technology was its greater operational continuity. Both the reverse osmosis and reverse
electrodialysis pilot plants were fed with effluent from the microfiltration unit, after
filtration by activated charcoal. There was no fouling of the reverse electrodialysis


444
membranes, while this was a serious problem with the reverse osmosis membranes, causing
increased pressure and frequent need for chemical cleaning (CENPES, 2004).
With respect to the costs of the ion exchange process, Figure 8 presents these costs in
comparison with those of competing technologies (Rautenbach & Melin, 2003, as cited in
Fritzmann et al., 2007).
It can be seen from the figure that for low salt concentrations, ion exchange is a competitive
technology. This indicates that ion exchange can be used for the polishing step for reverse
osmosis for treatment of wastewater for reuse at refineries in Brazil and the rest of the
world.
Table 3 shows the operating costs of treatment to remove nitrophenols with advanced
oxidative processes, for 90% reduction (initial concentration of 0.04 mM) (Goi & Trapido,
2002).

Treatment
Process
Compound [H
2
O
2
]o
(mM)
[Fe
2+
]o
(mM)
Energy
required
(kWh/m
3
)
Energy
cost
(US$/m
3
)
Total cost
(US$/m
3
)
UV 4,6-DN-0-
CR
2,6-DNP
4-NP
0

0
0
0

0
0
901

658
872
63.10

46.10
61.10
63.10

46.10
61.10
UV / H
2
O
2
4,6-DN-0-
CR
2,6-DNP
4-NP
10

10
10
0

0
0
21.9

16.3
5.15
1.53

1.14
0.36
1.82

1.43
0.65
Fenton 4,6-DN-0-
CR
2,6-DNP
4-NP
4

4
2
0.4

0.4
0.1
0

0
0
0

0
0
0.13

0.13
0.06
Photo-
Fenton
4,6-DN-0-
CR
2,6-DNP
4-NP
4

4
2
0.4

0.1
0.1
2.39

2.06
2.00
0.17

0.14
0.14
0.30

0.26
0.20
Note: DN - dinitro; CR - cresol; DNP - dinitrophenol; NP - nitrophenol.
Table 3. Operating cost for treatment to remove nitrophenols with advanced oxidative
processes, for 90% reduction (initial concentration of 0.04 mM) (Goi & Trapido, 2002).
Advanced oxidative processes can be used to treat sourwater from oil refineries containing
low biodegradability compounds and toxic substances that prevent use of biological
treatment (Coelho et al., 2006). Sourwater is an industrial effluent that should be segregated
and treated by combined processes because of its complex chemical composition (see Table
4), containing emulsified oil, phenols, sulfides, mercaptants, ammonia, cyanide and other
micro-pollutants.
Despite its complex composition, sourwater can be considered a candidate for industrial reuse
when submitted to efficient treatment processes. It is produced when steam is injected in some
refinery processing units to reduce the initial steam pressures of hydrocarbons, permitting
operation at lower temperatures. After separation at the top of the tower, the sourwater can be


445
fed into a rectification tower to remove ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. Besides being highly
polluting, sourwater is very corrosive. The amount of sourwater generated by a refinery
depends on various factors, including the process configuration and type and characteristics of
the crude oil being processed. Typical production of sourwater at large refineries ranges from
0.2 to 0.5 m
3
/tonne (metric ton) of crude oil (Coelho et al., 2006).

Parameter Range or average
COD (mg / L) 850-1020
DOC(mg / L) 300-440
BOD
5
570
Phenol (mg/L) 98-128
Ammonia (mg/L) 5.1-21.1
TSS (mg/L) n.d
a
VSS (mg/L) n.d
a
pH 8-8.2
Turbidity (NTU) 22-52
Sulfide (mg/L) 15-23
Toluene (g/L) 1.1
Ethylbenzene (g/L) 3.7
m,p-Xylene (g/L) 15.4
o-Xylene (g/L) 3.7
Oil and grease (mg/L) 12.7
Note: a - not detected; TSS - Total Suspended Solids; VSS Volatile Suspended Solids.
Table 4. Average characteristics of sourwater (Coelho et al., 2006).
5. Conclusion
Brazil is currently expanding its refining capacity and faces problems of localized water
shortage, both in semi-arid regions and intensely urbanized ones (such as the metropolitan
areas of Rio de Janeiro and So Paulo), in the latter case because of high water demand. This
chapter presented conventional wastewater treatment technologies and those aimed at
improving the quality sufficiently for reuse. In the second case, the costs and perspectives
for application in Brazil were presented.
The conventional wastewater treatment methods at oil refineries include gravity separation
(mainly in API separators), dissolved air flotation, demulsification, coagulation, flocculation
and biological treatment (aerated lagoons, activated sludge systems and biodiscs).
For treatment of refinery wastewater for reuse, the technologies include membranes (micro
and ultrafiltration), membrane bioreactors (MBRs), reverse osmosis and reverse
electrodialysis. These technologies work in series with conventional treatment techniques.
Some technologies, not yet applied in large scale for treating refinery effluents aiming at
reuse, are promising and should be tested further. Among these are nanofiltration, which
presents removal efficiency levels between those of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis; ion
exchange, which as shown in this chapter would be useful for the polishing step of reverse
osmosis; and advanced oxidative processes, which are effective for treating sourwater.
Despite the expensive investigations summarized here, further studies are necessary to


446
assess the feasibility of these technologies for large-scale application to treat oil refinery
wastewater for reuse.
6. Acknowledgments
We thank the National Research Council (CNPq) and the Rio de Janeiro State Research
Foundation (FAPERJ) for funding.
7. References
Agncia Nacional de Energia Eltrica - ANEEL. Retrieved on: August 26, 2010. Available
from: <www.aneel.gov.br/arquivos/PDF/informacoes_gerenciais_novo.pdf>.
Al-Shamrani, A.A., James, A., Xiao, H. (2002) Destabilisation of oil-water emulsions and
separation by dissolved air flotation. Water Research, Vol. 36, No. 6, (March 2002),
pp. 1503-1512, ISSN 0043-1354.
Amorim, R.S. (2005). Abastecimento de gua em uma refinaria de petrleo - Caso Replan. Masters
dissertation in Management System, Universidade Federal Fluminense.
Andreozzi, R.; Caprio, V., Insula, A. Marotta, R. (1999). Advanced oxidation processes
(AOP) for water purification and recovery. Catalysis Today, Vol. 53, No.1, (October
1999), pp. 51-59, ISSN 0920-5861.
Bessarabov, D.; Twardowski, Z. (2002). Industrial application of nanofiltration - new
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